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HINTS 



HUMAN CONDUCT 



VARIOUS RELATIONS. 



— " do all that may become a man j 

" Who dares do mere, is none."— 



EDINBURGH: 

BELL & BRADFUTE, NO. 12. BANK STREET; 
AND JAMES DUNCAN, LONDON. 

MDCCCXXXIV. 



W34 



Printed by James Walker, 

Old Bank Close, 

Edinburgh. 



I — ya^k & n CD ^l-. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

I. THE CONNEXION BETWEEN NATURAL AND 

REVEALED RELIGION, 1 

II. THE APPROPRIATE ACCOMPANIMENTS OF 

CHRISTIANITY, 11 

III. THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE GOOD AND 

THE BEAUTIFUL, 14 

IV. THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE USEFUL AND 
THE AGREEABLE— THE PALPABLE AND SPI- 
RITUAL, 17 

V. PARTISANSHIP IN POLITICS, 24 

VI. PREJUDICES AGAINST ARISTOCRACY, 29 

VII. LOYALTY NATIONAL CHARACTER, 35 

VIII. DUELLING, 40 

IX. SYMPATHY WITH INFERIOR CREATURES, .... 71 

X. SOCIAL DUTY, 86 



HINTS 



ON 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 



I. — THE CONNEXION BETWEEN NATURAL AND 
REVEALED RELIGION* 

In every ingenuous bosom there is a chord, at 
the touch of which, the universal frame will be 
softened, and all self-built systems dissolved. It 
only requires the experience of some heavy dis- 
aster, or sore bereavement, to bring home the 
fact, that suffering and sorrow are appointed to 
men ; and that no human remedy can supply the 
wants or heal the wounds of the spirit. When 

A 



Z HINTS ON 

we faint and fail, there is no balm in philosophy, 
— there is no physician there. But in the infinite 
compassion of Christ there is solace unspeakable, 
— in his holy sacrifice, complete salvation. The re- 
generated soul, ashamed of its past insensibility, 
follows the impulse of its ardent affections, and 
regards religion, less as the rule for all moral 
beings, than as a personal transaction between its 
author and itself. In its overflowing gratitude 
the proportions of duty are unconsidered. A de- 
votional tenderness, — a frame of spirit, similar to 
that in which Mary Magdalene washed the feet 
of our Saviour with her tears, and wiped them 
with her hair, — is the characteristic of the recent 
convert ; and after the personal intensity of 
grateful penitence has ceased to exclude consi- 
derations of a wider compass ; still he is so pene- 
trated by a sense of the indignities which were 
endured by the Saviour upon earth, and the pre- 
ciousness of the blood by which sin is washed 
away ; that he is inclined to view the world only 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 3 

as the scene of its Redeemer's crucifixion, and 
all that it contains as fitted for destruction. 

It is of great importance, rightly to discern the 
alliance between nature and revelation, and to be 
equally disinclined to flatter humanity by over- 
rating its inherent principles, and to encourage 
fanaticism by a wild endeavour to subvert them. 
Without the atonement of Christ, and the appli- 
cation of his sacrifice by the Holy Spirit, the 
condition of man is confessed to be hopeless. 
His nature is defiled. The effect of the ex- 
piation is to redeem what was lost, — the work of 
grace is to purify what was corrupt. The be- 
liever exists in a probationary state. He begins 
to be relieved from the burden of indwelling sin, 
— to put off the old man, and to put on the new 
man, — to recover not only the energy and purity 
of his original nature, but to attain to a yet more 
exalted state than that from which he fell, and 
to the hope of a still more intimate communion 
with the author of his being. 
a 2 



4 HINTS ON 

It is undoubtedly the object of the gospel to 
abase the independent pride and self- righteous- 
ness of man, — -to convince him of his worthless- 
ness, and to refer whatever is great or good to a 
higher source. It is, however, no less the ten- 
dency of the gospel to exalt the dignity of nature, 
to exhibit the grandeur of its design and desti- 
nation, and to develop every sentient principle. 
It is the error of enthusiasm, when it views the 
difference between a state of sin and a state of 
holiness, and is sensible of the mighty change 
which has been effected, to imagine, that nature 
must not only be purified, but suppressed and ex- 
tinguished. Literally interpreting the expressive 
figures of Scripture, — instead of being animated 
by the spirit of grace to excite and educe what sin 
had deadened and contracted, — an idle endeavour 
is made, to seal up the fountains of human nature, 
and to cover with contempt those faculties and 
feelings, by the perversion of which, evil was first 
introduced. A war is commenced against all 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 5 

that is fair and graceful in humanity. Vulgarity 
and meanness are substituted for genuine humi- 
lity ; pride is discerned in every species of re- 
finement; imagination is deemed an organ of de- 
lusion — beauty a deceitful show; as if this breath- 
ing world were a low and unideal scene, and we 
could possibly offend a God of love, the source 
of all excellence and beauty, by an expansion of 
those sentiments which we owe to his goodness. 
There is indeed one thing needful in religion ; 
and a complete surrender of the heart to God 
may be made, without the sign of any other qua- 
lity than that holy meekness which is declared 
to be an ornament of great price. That of itself, 
will communicate a moral beauty, which will 
attract and affect congenial dispositions. But if, 
in other respects, there be no very obvious dif- 
ference, and religion do not produce a greater 
delicacy of perception and keener sensibilities, 
it is not because religion and taste are neces- 
sarily disconnected, or because the one is at va- 



6 HINTS ON 

riance with the other. It is a proof only, that a 
refined taste is neither the substance of religion, 
nor essential to its development. There is an 
absence of a quality that humanity can exhibit ; 
but the absence is not in religion, — it is in the 
man. To bestow more commendation on the 
individual who possesses the accessary and 
unessential quality, would be unjust ; for our 
judgment here, — the mode of probation being so 
various, — should depend on relative and not on 
absolute merit. But surely it does not detract 
from the preciousness and sufficiency of saving 
faith, to suppose that the believer may hereafter 
evolve and mature what at present is scarcely 
visible ; and that in advancing to perfection, there 
will be a growth and exfoliation of every germ 
that God has implanted in the human constitu- 
tion. 

A complete harmony of action, it is admitted, 
is not possible in man's present state. The ten- 
dency towards evil, without exaggeration, may 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 7 

be considered an opposing principle, which, in 
this life, can never be altogether overcome. Hence 
the oscillation of the will, and the dissatisfaction 
of the judgment. But the distraction of internal 
conflict would pass endurance, if it were necessary 
not only to guard against selfish and inordinate 
desires, but to check and resist every natural im- 
pulse, and to regard as sinful or vain, whatever 
can communicate a feeling of pleasure not directly 
derived from revealed religion. If the just and 
the unjust could have nothing in common, — the 
sun would cease to shine, and the rain to descend 
with indiscriminate bounty. God is the source 
of natural, no less than of religious happiness ; 
and to refuse to partake of it, because it is shared 
by the unholy, is to discover a contracted nature, 
an insensibility to the spirit of goodness, and a 
lamentable ignorance of the character and dis- 
pensations of the Deity. 

It may yet be objected, that the Scriptures are 
adverse to the entertainment of any doctrine that 



8 HINTS ON 

gives the least encouragement to nature ; and 
that they militate against its accessary, as well 
as its essential qualities. This notion, how- 
ever, does not appear to be well founded. The 
Scriptures are adapted to every grade of intelli- 
gent being, — and weak must be the discernment 
which does not perceive their majesty and beauty. 
But the design of the Scriptures must be kept in 
view. They were to contain the sum of saving 
knowledge. They were to demonstrate the cor- 
ruption of nature. So far as the law of God had 
been defaced on the fleshly tablets where it was 
first inscribed, revelation restored and added new 
sanctions to its authority. But its voice is silent, 
where previous ordination sufficed. With the 
exercise and improvement of all our faculties God 
had connected enjoyment. This appointment had 
not been reversed by transgression, and therefore 
needed not to be revealed. 

Is, then, the spirit of Christianity no more than 
that of purified humanity ? Unquestionably it is. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. ^ 

In the Scriptures there are treasures of wisdom 
and knowledge, to the discovery of which huma- 
nity was unequal, — and in Christ there is a love 
which passeth knowledge. Nature is the dawn, 
— revelation is the day. What was dark is illu- 
mined — what was weak is strengthened — what 
was low is raised and supported. Nature, invi- 
gorated hy holy influences, disclaims her original. 
Man could extend forgiveness to his enemies, but 
the Christian can admit them to the circle of his 
love. Before, he could suffer with patience — now, 
he can rejoice even in tribulation. Before, God 
was known, — but now the glory of the Godhead 
is disclosed. 

Such being the prominent features of that eco- 
nomy which relates to human interests, we will 
perceive the fitness of applying ourselves to the 
subjects which it embraces with a holy zeal. And 
whatever the station or circumstances of an indi- 
vidual may be, religion is his first, his last, and, 
in truth, his only duty ; for the commonest events 



10 HINTS ON 

of every-day life, and the discbarge of the mean* 
est offices, are as much a part of the divine ad- 
ministration, as its mightiest movements. We 
are apt to regard this world as a region remote 
from the government of God, or at least as a dis- 
tant province, to which invisible emissaries repair 
through an unsubstantial expanse. We fancy that 
all is invisible, except that which we see. We 
forget that we are at all times in the heart of 
God's kingdom ; that he is everywhere imme- 
diately and intimately present; and that the an- 
gels before the throne are not more under his 
eye, than the dwellers on earth. Satan, who is 
denominated the prince of this world* on account 
of his ascendancy in the heart which is estranged 
from God, with glozing delusions would lure us 
to the belief, that the earth is detached from the 
divine dominions, and that we are left to walk 
in the sight of our own eyes, and after the coun- 
sel of our own hearts. But if any confidence may 
be placed in the combined testimony of reason 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 11 

and revelation, we are already the denizens of a 
kingdom to which there is no limit, and of which 
there shall be no end. Our vocation, though in- 
ferior, is similar to that of the heavenly ministers ; 
and were the scales removed from our spiritual 
vision, we should behold ourselves amid a throng 
of superior intelligences, — the heavens opened, — 
and the angels ascending and descending. 



■II.— THE APPROPRIATE ACCOMPANIMENTS OF 
CHRISTIANITY. 

There is a very general misunderstanding or 
forgetfulness of the relative circumstances of 
Christianity. Because God in his wisdom saw it 
meet to employ means most contrary to human 
expectation, and by the things that are weak to 
confound the things that are strong, that no flesh 
might glory in his presence ; it seems to be sup- 
posed, that a state of abasement is the natural 



12 HINTS ON 

condition of Christianity ; and that all temporal 
auxiliaries are marks of Babylonish corruption. 
When external embellishment is substituted for 
inward purity, it may be well, to remind the per- 
verter of the faith, of its spiritual origin and cha- 
racter, and to point to the lowliness of its author. 
But when religion has exercised so mighty an in- 
fluence on the progress of society, and in itself has 
assumed so extended a position, — " of the hand- 
" ful of corn which was on the top of the moun- 
" tains, having made the fruit to shake like Leba- 
" non," — to sever it entirely from secular interests, 
and to withhold a recognition correspondent to 
its importance, would be a proof of insensibility, 
and might justly warrant a suspicion of infidelity. 
For the distinction between spiritual and tem- 
poral things, is not in the things themselves, but 
in the manner in which they are viewed, — and, to 
a religious man, all things are Christ's. With 
what appearance of sincerity, then, could Chris- 
tians acknowledge the extent and unity of their 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 13 

master's kingdom, if, in the midst of affluence and 
splendour, poverty and insult should be the in- 
heritance of the church, — if, when the crown 
and the sceptre have succeeded to the stake and 
fagot, the holy cause should be exposed to con- 
tempt ? Prosperity, like adversity, demands an 
appropriate expression. When we are blessed by 
the bounty of God, — while the heart alone can 
make an acceptable return, — an external symbol 
of our pious gratitude is reverent and becoming. 
And those who rail at the overgrown revenues 
of the church, and contrast its present wealth 
with its original indigence, would perhaps be less 
eager in their projects of retrenchment, were the 
members as well as the ministers of the Christian 
church compelled to revert to their original cir- 
cumstances. 



14 HINTS ON 



III. — THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE GOOD AND THE 
BEAUTIFUL. 

Dominant passions have a plastic influence ; 
and the outward features will in process of time, 
faithfully indicate the inward dispositions. In 
the same manner, goodness of heart and great- 
ness of soul will animate and dignify deformity 
itself; and the habitual application of moral im- 
pulse will imperceptibly change even physical 
properties. The laws of nature may forbid a 
rapid or visible transition ; but there is reason 
to think, that as the dispositions operate on the 
features, and qualities are hereditary, — goodness, 
continued through generations, will in the end 
have even physical beauty for its concomitant. 

There is a pleasure in the exercise of all our 
feelings and faculties ; and though our nature 
were freed from its corruption, beauty might not 
be resolved into goodness. But as the influence 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 15 

of the affections greatly exceeds that of our 
other powers, the highest rank may be assigned 
to that moral beauty, which is the expression of 
love, or the benevolent principle ; and as our in- 
terest in the general happiness becomes stronger, 
so may our sense of the beauty of goodness. 
The beauty that is the subject of mental taste 
is of a secondary character, — that which appears 
in connexion with vice — admits of being separa- 
ted and admired for itself. But while it is of 
importance to discriminate in our sentiments, 
and to regard that only, as odious, which is real- 
ly so, — it is of no less importance to graduate our 
love for what may be legitimately admired. To 
subject a moral to an intellectual taste, partakes 
of the nature of vice. If, however, the taste for 
intellectual beauty should exceed the love of 
moral excellence, the error is to be corrected, — 
not by contracting the former, but by expanding 
the latter. And it is a high thought, that amidst 
the finite objects by which we are encompassed, 



1G HINTS ON 

an infinite provision has been made for our im- 
provement both in goodness and intelligence, and 
that, so far from interfering with each other, the 
happiest effects result from their mutual in- 
fluence *. 

* It is an opinion countenanced by high authority, 
that sensibility, excited by fiction, has a tendency ad- 
verse to the active charities of life. The habit, it is 
said, of being moved without having occasion to relieve, 
hardens the heart against real distress. But it is thought, 
that on this subject there is often a confusion of ideas, 
■with a deference to traditional prejudice, which is not 
consistent with sound philosophy. Every feeling is 
strengthened by exercise ; and it would be a curious re- 
sult, if the expansion of sympathy could in any way con- 
tribute to the contraction of benevolence. Benevolence 
itself consists not in the outward act, but in the inward 
feeling, — in a feeling, that must be classed with those 
which have less palpable modes of expression ; and it 
might just as well be said of it, as of them, that its tone 
is weakened by use. When the affections withhold what 
they have it in their power to impart; it is not because 
they have often been employed unproductively, but be- 
cause they have been associated with certain tastes which 
have acquired an undue ascendancy over the moral con- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 17 



IV.— THE CONNEXION BETWEEN THE USEFUL AND THE 
AGREEABLE, — THE PALPABLE AND THE SPIRITUAL. 

The useful and the agreeable are often placed 
in opposition. The slightest attention is suffi- 
cient for perceiving, that as happiness is the aim 
and end of our being, whatever is agreeable 
must be useful. It is obvious, that imagination 
and fancy, may be classed among the subjects of 
utilitarian economy, on the very same principle 
as agricultural wealth and mechanical industry. 

It is true, that necessities must be provided 
for in the first instance. And such is the con- 
dition of human society, that a great portion of 
time is occupied in obtaining the means of ex- 
istence. To lessen the number of physical wants 
is an object of high importance. It would be 

stitution. Whatever encourages the growth of such 
tastes is indubitably pernicious. But fiction may be em- 
ployed to extirpate as well as to cherish them. 
B 



18 HINTS ON 

strange, however, if to procure the means of liv- 
ing were the sole purpose of life, and if what- 
ever does not contribute to material aliment or 
tangible riches, could be justly regarded as use- 
less. 

Even in the vulgar sense, the pursuits and 
pleasures of refinement have a positive value. 
They increase the demand for labour, and sti- 
mulate the powers of production. " Allow not 
" nature more than nature needs," and the world 
would be a wilderness of savages. 

But were it otherwise, — could the pleasures of 
animal existence be indefinitely multiplied — as 
man is constituted, the character of utility could 
not be confined to those efforts which minister 
to physical improvement. It is dishonourable to 
humanity, that it measures the value of labour 
by the standard of its infirmity, and minds its 
corporeal appetites rather than its spiritual capa- 
city. 

Hence the nominal distinction between the ac- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 19 

tual and ideal, as if thought had not as real an 
existence as the objects of sense. Reason must 
acknowledge the entity of the one as certainly 
as of the other. The immaterial, indeed, must 
occupy the largest place in every man's attention, 
how reluctantly soever its importance is admit- 
ted. We may not entirely concur with Hamlet 
in the opinion, that " there is nothing good or 
" bad, but thinking makes it so ;" but we will 
scarcely deny that the world is coloured by the 
complexion of our minds, and that the same ex- 
ternal object will communicate to different indi- 
viduals impressions as dissimilar, both in kind 
and in degree, as those which are produced by 
ravishing music, on the ears of susceptible or in- 
different auditors. 



-*' We receive but what we give, 



M And in our life alone, does nature live. 
" Ours is her wedding garment — ours her shroud — 
" And would we aught behold of higher worth 
£ 2 



20 HINTS ON 

" Than that inanimate cold world, allowed 
" To the poor, loveless, ever anxious crowd, 
" Ah from the soul itself, must issue forth — 
" A light, a glory, and a luminous cloud, 
" Enveloping the earth> 

" And from the soul itself, must there be sent, 
" A sweet and potent voice of its own birth, 
" Of all sweet sounds, the life and element." 

Coleridge. 

Contempt of the immaterial shows itself in a 
variety of forms. The traditional glory of poetry 
is still the inheritance of great and gifted spirits ; 
but their fame consists not in the involuntary tri- 
bute of reverberating hearts. Except from a 
small proportion of congenial natures, it is an ho- 
mage rendered to the descendants of a race, whose 
ancient nobility admits of no question. To with- 
hold honour from them, would be self-disparage- 
ment. The laurel, however, and not the means by 
which it was obtained, are the object of the gene- 
ral admiration. Till the poet is crowned, his pre- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 21 

tensions are little respected. His efforts are ex- 
posed to vulgar ridicule, or, it may be, treated 
with compassionate condescension. A mortal 
sin, is often less concealed, than a warm predi- 
lection for the noblest of arts. The poet and the 
man of business are conceived to be at the anti- 
podes. And if contact with selfishness and chi- 
canery, must excite neither disgust nor indigna- 
tion, — if the soul must contract its proportions to 
procure a passage through the dark alleys of hu- 
man interest, — the conception is just. But, on 
the other hand, if the real business of life, — the 
improvement of our moral and rational nature, — 
depend on the growth and enlargement of our fa- 
culties ; — address, tact and dexterity, deriving 
their utility from the vices of society, — can have 
no claim to be compared with that imaginative 
vigour and lively apprehension, which impart a 
double life to their possessor, and are an earnest of 
clearer intelligence and of a loftier communion. 
It is not unworthy of observation, that some of 



22 HINTS ON 

the fine arts are more respectfully treated. A 
slender proficiency in painting is not deemed a 
disgrace ; and the feeblest effort in music will in 
general be favourably received. In both these 
cases, the reason of forbearance or commendation 
may lie in the nearer approach which is made to 
the sensual and the tangible. Had we an inte- 
rest in the finer creations of poetry, the same cha- 
rity, or a greater degree of it than we bestow on 
inferior essays in the fine arts, would not be with- 
held from promising, though imperfect endea- 
vours, in one confessedly superior. 

Were the sublime, the only element of poetry, 
mediocrity might not be tolerated, on account of 
the disproportion between the attempt and the 
attainment. But in poetry, not less, if not great- 
ly more than in any other of the fine arts, there 
is a field for the expression of sentiments, diffe- 
rent in kind and in degree. 

In the coarsest minds there may be an appear- 
ance of imagination : — Nay, the wilder the ro- 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 23 

mance, it may present greater attractions to vul- 
gar fancy. But on considering the elements of 
such a fictitious composition as pleases the mil- 
lion, we shall find an additional reason for mea- 
suring the agreeable effect which is generally pro- 
duced by the fine arts, by the degree of their 
proximity to the palpable and the familiar. For 
the grotesque and the extravagant are merely ex- 
aggerations of the corporeal and the unideal ; or 
if, as in superstitious legends, the interest be ex- 
cited by the mysterious and the indefinite, still it 
is in relation to personal and bodily feelings. The 
harlequin who bolts through a window, and plays 
all manner of tricks with the commonest objects, 
is more attractive than the spirit that would 
" circle the earth in forty minutes/' or than any 
of the gay " creatures of the element." Poeti- 
cal alcbymy is nothing to actual metamorphosis. 
The wild adventures and improbable occurrences 
of a bad romance, are substitutes for the interest 
and vitality which invention can bestow on the 



2i 



HINTS ON 



simplest materials. Like lying, often, but most 
erroneously, supposed a proof of imagination, un- 
natural fictions evince a shallow intellect. They 
are the clumsiest specimens of spiritual mecha- 
nism, and betray the meagre resources of their 
contriver. 



V. — PARTISANSHIP IN POLITICS. 

It is generally supposed, that a medium in 
politics, is negative and inefficacious. And if, 
from selfish views, an individual should exhibit 
an alternation of opinion and a hesitancy of con- 
duct, his vacillating movements will expose him 
to merited contempt. But a neutral — is not al- 
ways an undecided policy. It is indeed not a 
little singular, that, in mixed constitutions, the 
centre should be deemed, a weak and slippery 
position. Unless the eulogium on such a constitu- 
tion as that of Great Britain has been ill bestow- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 25 

ed, we might expect in the national character, a 
representation of its composite elements, — King, 
Lords and Commons. In theory, these are sup- 
posed to coalesce; but so little confidence is 
placed in human integrity, that the appearance of 
providing for united interests creates a suspicion 
of dishonesty ; and a sleepless jealousy of each 
other, becomes with the opposite parties, the 
only test of patriotism. 

If the government be utterly corrupt, — if selfish 
interests predominate in the legislature, and the 
voice of truth and reason be uplifted in vain, — 
there may be a necessity for organising a party, 
and pursuing a system of political tactics. Such 
a necessity, in times past, has been acknowledged 
by the most enlightened statesmen ; and the in- 
fluence of that acknowledgment continues to be 
felt, when the constraining cause, in one direction 
at least, has ceased to operate. 

As a check to democracy, however, the orga- 
nization of party is of less avail. The adoption 



26 HINTS ON 

of any means which may not be referred to pure 
principle, may have the effect of weakening rather 
than of strengthening an unpopular minority. A 
party who have recourse to other instruments be- 
sides reason and justice, — unless the adversary be 
not only deaf to conviction, but reducible to com- 
pulsory obedience, — will in the end, gain nothing 
but reproach. 

In public as in private life, indeed, there may 
be, on the foundation of correct principle, a se- 
cure but solitary structure ; and the policy which 
takes no account of the customs and humours of 
classes and individuals, will be as little likely to 
procure success, as an upright but austere cha- 
racter, to ingratiate himself with society. An 
amiable manner has been so often assumed as a 
mask for unworthy purposes, that a smooth ad- 
dress has been brought into some degree of dis- 
repute among lovers of truth ; and an ungracious 
deportment has been reckoned a mark of since- 
rity. But courtesy and every mode of good-will, 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 27 

are for the most part, indispensable to human 
agency. They are not selfish arts, but important 
duties ; and can be slighted or neglected by no 
one who has an interest in the diffusion of hap- 
piness. 

So far, therefore, as a party is united for the 
purpose of disseminating those principles which 
its members individually respect and cherish, 
and while their behaviour does not require to be 
justified by the Jesuitical approval of evil for the 
sake of good, the association is laudable. But 
to proceed one step beyond, — to make the least 
sacrifice of conscientious opinion, — to have the 
slightest connexion with faction, — is neither ho- 
nourable nor expedient. To despair of a good 
cause, without the use of equivocal instruments, is 
to manifest a disbelief of those superior powers by 
which the order of the moral world is preserved. 
While humanity retains its constitution, the hum- 
blest individual who seeks for happiness by vir- 
tue, has stronger auxiliaries than rank, talent, or 



28 



HINTS ON 



numbers can afford. He is in league with truth, 
justice, and benevolence, and the slightest dero- 
gation from one of these, would ill be requited 
by any support which he could derive from a 
secular alliance. Let not him therefore, who re- 
fuses to enlist under the banners of a party, be 
reckoned either a contradiction or a nullity. His 
line of action may be no less decided than that of 
the most eager partisan, though he may be found 
sometimes on one side, and sometimes on another 
of an arbitrary boundary. It is not sufficient to 
convict him of inconsistency, that he has refused 
to subscribe to a fluctuating creed. If he have 
adhered to that higher standard to which all poli- 
tical creeds should conform, he presents a better 
claim to the character of faithfulness, than the 
firmest tenacity in respect to conventional arti- 
cles can offer *. 

* The preference of persons to principles has of late 
been painfully conspicuous. There are disinterested 
men in all parties ; but the servile followers of the pre- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 29 



VI. — PREJUDICES AGAINST ARTSTOCRACY. 

There is a growing dislike to aristocracy, not 
merely as a governing power, but likewise as an 

sent, and those of previous administrations, could scarce- 
ly be more versatile in their opinions, were they charge- 
able with open venality. Things as well as persons 
seem to have changed places. The extreme party have 
as yet had no opportunity of transmutation. With the 
exception of inscribing liberty and patriotism on their 
banners, they make no pretension to loftiness of prin- 
ciple, but honestly avow their design to make as few 
sacrifices as possible. Nevertheless, they are not with- 
out conceit of firmness, and honesty, and public spirit. 
These are admirable qualities ; but assurance, obtuseness, 
and a passion for notoriety, are often their substitutes. 
Any member of the social family may take a prominent 
part in a work of philanthropy without the slightest pre- 
sumption ; but if, in the attainment of inferior ends, a 
person should thrust himself forward with no recom- 
mendation to popular acceptance which every citizen 
could not as easily prefer, inordinate vanity may justly 
be suspected. 

All pretences are odious. Vulgar ambition cannot 



30 HINTS ON 

ingredient in the composition of society. The 
cause of this may be ascribed partly to the invi- 
diousness of unparticipated privileges, and partly 
to their abuse. Artificial distinctions, however, 
may be defended on substantial grounds. It is 

be raised above its base level by the shouts of a rabble. 
But, iu an especial manner, secularity in the guise of 
sacredness is obnoxious. Inconsistency of conduct 
in a member of the church of Christ, whether as a minis- 
ter, as an elder, or as a censor of abuses, if habitual, or 
followed by no regret, is a reproach to the Christian pro- 
fession. When one who makes himself conspicuous 
by an apparent zeal for the purest forms of ecclesiastical 
polity, in a case where his religion is brought to the 
test, acts in the same manner as the world's most abject 
minion, — it is evident that he is ignorant of religion, or 
that he miscalculates egregiously the tolerance that is 
shewn to hypocrisy. But he, as well as those who 
think that fame is dependant on utterance, and that, be- 
cause no one arraigns them openly, they are held in 
honour and reputation, — should remember, that there are 
vigilant eyes and searching judgments, where no visible 
indication is given of their exercise ; and that a man, on 
whom public applause has been lavished, may notwith- 
standing be deservedly despised. 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 31 

certainly not enough that nature has led the way ; 
for what nature has already done may admit of 
no addition. But as men have become great by 
the study of some eminent model, or by having 
constantly before them a venerated presence, 
the image of personified nobility, may prove a 
perpetual standard of honour and magnanimity. 
Parental reverence and personal respect will for- 
bid the disappointment of public expectation. 
Nor although the fabric of character is mainly 
constructed by each individual, should the trans- 
mitted influence of hereditary qualities be over- 
looked. If national dignity is not an empty name, 
— if the loftier sentiments of humanity are salutary 
to the social constitution, — it is expedient that 
there should be an order in the state, raised above 
the level of the market place, to whom, as to a 
priesthood, should be entrusted a sacred charge in 
the temple of honour. In private transactions, or 
in public measures, in which men have a private in- 
terest, their views may be warped ; but in judg- 



32 HINTS ON 

ing of others, a generous and elevated policy will 
produce its effect even on the million, and be 
more likely to procure a benefit than all the arts 
which selfishness can employ. In its purest state, 
however, aristocracy is liable to abuse. A cer- 
tain degree of distinction being attained without 
any effort, the spring of activity may be inopera- 
tive, and corruption be engendered by the breath 
of flattery and the love of pleasure. When the 
rank of nobility is conferred, not for illustrious 
actions and patriotic services, but for secret or 
shameless reasons, the order is at once degraded, 
and the object of its existence defeated. When 
the scions of aristocracy flourish in despite of 
pernicious qualities, the society in which they 
are cherished, is itself corrupt. As long as there 
is soundness in the main body of society, the pri- 
vileges of aristocracy will require a correspondent 
demeanour, and the peril attendant on gratuitous 
honours will be avoided. But when, in spite of 
mean conduct or flagrant vices, the wearer of a 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 33 

coronet is followed and caressed, the extinction 
of aristocracy would prove no remedy for the evil. 
The servility of the minion, rather than the rank 
of the magnate, should then be obnoxious, and 
such means adopted, as would purify and regene- 
rate the corrupted community. 



VII. — LOYALTY, — NATIONAL CHARACTER. 

Unlimited monarchy, is scarcely compatible 
with the voluntary obedience of a civilised peo- 
ple. External hostilities, or the recent experience 
of civil dissensions, — the glory of arms, national 
vanity, or the love of ease, — may for a time pre- 
serve an irresponsible dynasty in an enlightened 
country ; but the favour of the government will 
evanish with the eclat of the individual who made 
it illustrious, or with the memory of those hor- 
rors, for which the worst species of tyranny would 

have been a welcome substitute. The lover of 
c 



34? HINTS ON 

learned leisure, may in a careless moment, con- 
trast the amenities of absolute sovereignty with 
the agitations of democracy ; but no man who has 
a regard either for his own, or for the general 
interest, can think of arbitrary arrests, — -protracted 
imprisonments, — judicial murders, and the num- 
berless abuses that may be committed, both with 
and without law, in a despotic state, and be con- 
tent within its confines. Despotism in any shape 
is a dreadful evil. Whether in families, or in 
states, — whether in one or a thousand — an army 
or a mob, — a tyrannical will, must be feared if 
passively obeyed, or hated and resisted. What- 
ever be the character of the ruler invested with 
supremacy, the happiness of the community is 
too precious a deposit to be intrusted to any in- 
dividual. 

But a limited monarchy presents a very diffe- 
rent aspect. Under it, are combined the benefits 
of freedom, and the blessing of peace. On a king 
who reigns for the good of his subjects; and who 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 35 

has no interest at variance with theirs, the fond- 
est expressions of loyalty are not unworthily la- 
vished. Not every sentiment can bear an ana- 
lysis ; and the combination of several, may pro- 
duce one, that is entirely distinct from its consti- 
tuent elements. When loyalty is submitted to 
the crucible, a spirit evaporates, which, though 
it may not be weighed nor measured, is eminent- 
ly conducive to the prosperity of the state. A 
definition of loyalty, as of religion, must be dero- 
gatory and incomplete. Yet all the elements of 
loyalty, are not so subtle and evanescent as to 
elude apprehension, nor so trivial as to warrant 
disrespect. In the king of a free state, we do 
not behold an object of barbarous wonder, or a 
splendid idol, before which, we are commanded, 
at the sound of a trumpet, to fall down and wor- 
ship. The king of any state, is by his office, the 
father of his people ; but the king of a free state 
is the express form and image of the nation, — the 

representative of all that is prized and cherished 
c2 



36 HINTS ON 

in the constitution. If associations of antiquity 
and chivalrous renown have rendered the national 
chauacter venerable and noble ; it is necessary 
that the attributes of the sovereign should be in 
unison with such qualities. A president or chief 
magistrate chosen from the community, though 
the best of citizens, could not fulfil these condi- 
tions. The habits acquired in the prosecution 
of private interests, could not be thrown off on 
the threshold of office ; and if they could, would 
nevertheless be remembered to the prejudice of 
him who should seem to have forgotten his for- 
mer estate. Reciprocity is the spirit of commerce; 
and though merchants become princes, and obtain 
distinction by justice and liberality ; self-sacrifice, 
or a disregard of their own advantage, is contrary 
to their general system. But the most attractive 
feature in a chief, is devotion to his followers, 
not dependent on calculations of prudence, but 
the spontaneous emanation of a high-seated heart. 
Whatever is admirable in knighthood, we expect 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 37 

from royalty. Were it necessary for the safety 
of the state that one should die, and the feat 
of Curtius be reacted, — the prince must be ready 
to leap into the gulf. It is true, the personal 
prowess of the sovereign, in modern times, can 
seldom be exhibited ; but the association remains ; 
and wherever there is an opportunity, hand and 
heart, — by life or by death, — the king must pro- 
mote the weal of his people. 

For the support of royalty, an aristocratic order 
in the state appears to be essential ; not merely 
because otherwise democracy would preponderate ; 
but also, because the sentiments which should 
belong to the kingly character, would speedily be 
extinguished without congenial society. Those, 
therefore, who would abolish aristocracy, should 
be equally prepared for the extinction of royalty. 

As far as a form of government, can conduce 
to the welfare of a community in the present 
state of the world, a limited monarchy is adapt- 
ed to its object. But the influence of forms of 



38 HINTS ON 

government has been much overrated. The ef- 
fect has been mistaken for the cause. The most 
perfect theory of government is powerless in a 
community unprepared for its reception. A du- 
rable constitution must be made not only for, 
but by a people ; not that it is to be devised by 
a popular assembly : but its foundations must be 
laid in the national history, and its character be 
accordant with that of the country. Forms of 
government are but the skeleton — the national 
character is the life and essence of the constitu- 
tion. An abrupt or violent change in the forms 
maybe highly inexpedient; but to lament over 
the loss of the constitution, on account of its ex- 
ternal structure being altered, betrays an igno- 
rance of its vital properties. A needless change 
should be regretted, less for the form's sake than 
for the dissolution of character, which render- 
ed the change an object of desire. While the 
groundwork remains on which the pile was reared, 
a substantial edifice might arise even from its 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 39 

overthrow. A bad government, though in a free 
and uncorrupted state, may be productive of mi- 
sery for one or two generations. Fire and blood- 
shed may be necessary to cure the national frenzy; 
but if the heart be sound, the body will recover 
its health and vigour. It is of more consequence, 
therefore, to attend to the means of forming the 
national character, than to the mechanism of go- 
vernment. Personal, both includes and surpasses 
political reform. But government reacts upon 
the people ; and it being admitted, that the hap- 
piness of a generation may be involved in a change 
of its forms, these must always be deemed a sub- 
ject of great, though not of the first importance ; 
for however excellent a people may have been 
originally, a vicious government will in process of 
time, assimilate them to itself. But in the same 
manner, however vicious a government may have 
been, it will be gradually reformed by the im- 
proving character of the people. 



40 HINTS ON 



VIII. — DUELLING. 

In extolling the principle of honour, its coun- 
terfeit may appear to some the object of enco- 
mium. But while the glory and happiness of a 
nation are promoted by the high spirit of the 
community, yet more than by its physical re- 
sources ; not only no benefit, but the most serious 
evil ensues from the existence of a false or fac- 
titious principle of honour. 

The practice of duelling, as it occurs in mo- 
dern times, has seldom been defended, except 
with the view of obviating punishment. Its 
adoption is generally considered by men of the 
world as a fatal necessity — a predicament from 
which, in certain circumstances, there is no pos- 
sibility of escape. The absurdity, the injustice, 
the immorality of the act may be admitted ; but 
so it is, we are told, and therefore, — though the 
inference is not very obvious, — so it must be. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 41 

In such a state of things, it might seem at first 
sight, that the efforts of reason, to remove the 
evil, would be unavailing. But strong as are 
the passions and corrupt habits of men ; it is 
scarcely possible to conceive, that in an enlight- 
ened age, any custom which is without support 
from respectable authority should maintain its 
footing. The reasons of the individual who jus- 
tifies the practice, and the motives of him who 
follows it, may be altogether dissimilar. But 
the former, if not the foundation, may be consi- 
dered as the bulwark of the latter, even though 
the connexion should be disowned ; and if irra- 
tionality and recklessness had no countenance 
except from each other, their effrontery would 
be less. 

Accordingly, it is of primary importance to 
ascertain if there be one tenable position which 
the defender of duelling can occupy ; and with 
this view, the character of the act must be im- 
partially examined. Appeals to religion and hu- 



42 HINTS ON 

manity, while the criminality of the custom is not 
admitted, are premature. If it can be establish- 
ed, that the good of society is promoted by the 
tolerance of private warfare, it is not possible that 
it should be forbidden either by reason or Scrip- 
ture. 

Where the law of the land treats it as a crime, 
unless such law be virtually abrogated by the 
violated feelings of the community, — nothing less 
than the proof of the prohibition being itself the 
infraction of a superior law, can justify disobe- 
dience. 

Let the case, however, be disentangled from 
positive sanctions, whether of divine or human 
authority. Let the end of duelling be stated, 
and the means by which that end is to be accom- 
plished ; and then we shall be enabled to decide 
whether, and in what respect, the practice is to be 
praised or condemned. 

The preservation of manners, and the main- 
tenance of station which has sometimes been 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 43 

termed self-defence, are the chief, if not the only 
ends that can be plausibly alleged in considering 
the character of duelling. How far the term 
self-defence, can be applied to the circumstances 
to which it is intended to refer, need not be de- 
termined at present ; for though the definition 
were unexceptionable, the argument which rests 
on it, is an evident begging of the question. 
Reason must decide whether or not duelling is 
right ; and if the judgment be in the negative, it 
can neither be reversed nor altered in the slightest 
degree, though it should be contradicted not 
merely by a section of society, but by the uni- 
versal practice of men. To propone self-defence 
in the first instance, as a justification of duelling, 
is to admit the delict, and to maintain its neces- 
sity on account of the predominance of irrational 
authority. 

An unequivocal plea of self-defence would be 
entitled to primary notice, — for the protection of 
individuals is the interest of society. But slight 



HINTS ON 



as the claim which rests on the propriety of man- 
ners may seem, it is in truth the only one which 
does not in some measure infer culpability. 

There are cases in morality, to reason on which, 
discredits the superior principles which dictate 
the decision. Were an illustration required of 
this supererogation of reason, it would be unne- 
cessary to go beyond the subject in hand. When 
it is proposed to guard good manners by conflict 
and bloodshed, and to put it into the power of 
a vindictive individual to punish capitally, — 
where the law, which leaves no substantial wrong 
without a remedy administered by impartial 
judges, refuses even civil redress, — the dispro- 
portion betwixt the means and the end is in- 
stantly apparent ; and could an argument be de- 
vised to puzzle the understanding, inability to 
unravel its sophistry would in no wise prevent 
a thorough conviction of its falsehood. 

But having made this protest against the sup- 
position, that reasoning is at all necessary in this 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 45 

part of the inquiry ; let it not be imagined that 
there is any wish to decline its jurisdiction. Let 
social politeness be deemed worthy of the highest 
sacrifice, and it will appear that the price offered 
cannot purchase the desired advantage. 

There may have been a time, when the pride 
of physical strength, and the consciousness of per- 
sonal prowess, had a domineering influence on 
society, — when insolence of tongue, or tyranny 
of temper, unrestrained by opinion, stood in need 
of a violent check, — though it is not easy to see 
how the same qualities which incited to insult, 
preponderant as they would generally be in a 
personal encounter, could be curbed or repressed 
by the penalty — or what, in chivalrous language, 
would rather be termed — the pastime of a chal- 
lenge. Society, however, at such a time, was in 
a semi-barbarous condition. In civilised eras, so- 
ciety permits not animal ascendancy. Both for 
its entertainment and its defence, it relies chiefly 
on moral and intellectual resources ; — it upholds 



46 HINTS ON 

the standard of taste ; and, in considering the pre- 
tensions or the conduct of its members, is wholly 
independent of physical constraint. To urge the 
necessity of the sword and the pistol, is to assume 
an uncivilised state of manners ; and therefore, 
unless it is contended, that barbarism is still a so- 
cial characteristic, the argument is, — not that duel- 
ling now preserves, but that it originally procured 
the alleged benefit. 

It is difficult to imagine, that we are in any 
notable degree, indebted to a preventive influence, 
for the peace and propriety of social communion. 
Against the enemies of society, fear and its auxi- 
liaries may be of signal efficacy; but among 
friends and acquaintances, or in general inter- 
course, the courtesy which prevails must be as- 
cribed to a worthier principle. In referring to 
past times, an endeavour is made to hide an in- 
defensible practice in the mists of antiquity, or to 
derive from the sanction of a ruder age a pre- 
scriptive title to observance. But it must be re- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 47 

membered, that at the time to which reference is 
made, the combat, — so far from resembling the 
presumptuous attempt at personal retribution 
which the modern duel exhibits, was a judicial 
appointment — a solemn transaction — an appeal to 
the Deity in matters of such moment as appeared 
to warrant his providential interposition. Subse- 
quently the institution was perverted ; and for 
causes comparatively trivial the issue was referred 
to arms. Before the discovery of gunpowder, the 
custom of deciding quarrels by the lance or the 
sword could have operated little in favour of the 
weak, if indeed it had not a contrary tendency. 
Since then — the influence of civilization should it- 
self have proved a sufficient protection. Here, 
however, we return to the question of the duel 
as it is. If the preceding view be correct, there 
is no reason to think that society has been bene- 
fited by a practice in any respect similar to the 
duel of modern times. 

But had it been otherwise — had the benefit of 



48 



HINTS ON 



duelling at one time been manifest — it will not 
surely be maintained, that on that account it 
ought never to be discontinued. As well might 
perpetual war be waged, for the purpose of pro- 
curing peace. It in no wise follows, that the 
means by which an object is procured, are those 
by which it must be preserved ; and if the agency 
of the instrument be at all questionable, the end 
being accomplished — whatever is not indispensable 
to the continuance of the effect, should forthwith 
be discontinued. If then there be, in the moral 
sense of society, a sufficient safeguard against in- 
decent and ferocious manners, — the employment 
of mortal weapons in private quarrels, indicates an 
unjusti6able recklessness of human life, and, in 
the great majority of instances, is the disguised 
substitute of assault and assassination. 

It is possible, however, that the influence of 
civilization may be deemed inadequate to the 
maintenance of good manners ; and the number of 
duels which actually occur, may be deemed a proof 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 49 

of prevailing offences. If from that number be 
deducted, the cases in which the demand for sa- 
tisfaction was dictated by a blamable resentment, 
and those in which no offence would have been 
taken, but for the arbitrary code by which the of- 
fence was created, — the remainder would be found 
to be insignificant. Except in rare instances, the 
field of social intercourse is protected from the fury 
of passion, by a feeling of common interest, as well 
as mutual benevolence. Superficial politeness and 
formal grimace may consist with the dread of our 
companions ; but the spirit of enlightened cour- 
tesy is cordial and expansive. It acts not in con- 
formity to frigid modes, but to the free impulses 
of a generous heart and an intelligent mind. Un- 
fortunate, indeed, in respect of the society which 
he has himself chosen, or on which he has been 
cast, must be the individual, who thinks that social 
amenity can be preserved only by the dread of a 
latent weapon. For such, the awaiting cartel, in 
reality is. To outward appearance, a gentleman 

D 



50 HINTS ON 

no longer wears his sword in society ; but if he 
have reserved to himself a privilege of challenge, 
on the slightest cause of real or on fancied provo- 
cation ; it is only to appearance, that his sword is 
abandoned. He is still armed, not in moral proof, — 
in goodness and in honesty, — but with the same 
weapons as the felon and the outlaw. When the 
sword was laid aside, it certainly could not have 
been intended that its place should be so vul- 
garly supplied. 

Nature, indeed, is various, and there is perhaps 
no circle where her unchecked tendencies may 
not sometimes be rudely developed. The fierce 
and the imperious may have occasionally restrain- 
ed their natural inclinations from no worthier mo- 
tive than the avoidance of danger. But had their 
wrath and arrogance known no control, and made 
society a witness of their excess, exclusion or 
disgrace would have followed as a consequence ; 
so that in this view, the duel, instead of banish- 
ing the injurious from society, has only the effect 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 51 

of retaining them in it, by saving tbern from pub- 
lic exposure, while the irritation of their sup- 
pressed humours will incite to every species of 
unchallenged annoyance. At the same time, it 
should be considered how far duelling may not 
have directly contributed to the very evil which 
it is professedly designed to repress ; and how 
often, trusting to a formidable repute, and the 
general reluctance to have recourse to compul- 
sory vindication, the bully and the ruffian have 
endeavoured to bear down the better sense of 
society. There is reason to believe that false- 
hood is much encouraged by passing without 
contradiction^ on account of the disagreeable re- 
sults that might ensue. To the communion of 
intelligent and honourable men, a habitual liar 
must be a stranger. But as the offence is not 
so palpable as that of outrageous manners, a sta- 
tion in promiscuous society may frequently be 
maintained by a person, whose total disregard of 
veracity is alike an insult to the understanding, 
i> 2 



52 HINTS ON 

and a cause of loathing to the moral taste of his 
unwilling auditors. 

Farther, the character of duelling may incur 
some suspicion from that of its patrons. 

It may here be remarked, that if the custom 
were necessary for the conservation of civilised 
intercourse, it would be not a little strange that 
it was entirely unknown to the ancient world, 
and to those nations that have furnished sur- 
passing specimens of taste, and signal examples 
of manly virtue *• 

But confining ourselves to our own times, let 
us examine the pretensions of the advocates of 
duelling and the champions of honour. Are 
they to be considered as the Percies of the age, 
to whom " it were an easy leap, to pluck bright 
" honour from the pale-faced moon ?" Does their 
jealousy of affront proceed from a knightly re- 

* See the Letter of Julie to St Preux, in which she 
endeavours to dissuade him from sending a challenge. 
This observation, as well as others in the course of this 
argument, are there, most happily enforced. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 53 

gard for reputation, and an unsullied nobility of 
nature ? Are they models of refinement and 
patterns of propriety ? Experience is at hand 
with a negative reply. It is not denied, that 
amiable and honourable men have been unable 
to resist the current of fashionable or professional 
opinion, j and have conformed to a custom which 
they either condemned, or conceived it impos- 
sible to do away. Statesmen, indeed, have so 
far forgot the dignity of their office as to enter 
the arena of personal contention. But the fire- 
eater, and he who submits to a conventional 
ordeal, are easily distinguished. The stronghold 
of duelling, is the den of vice, — its warmest sup- 
porters are the slaves of sensuality. Gamblers 
and adulterers, sharpers, rakes and bullies, — men 
whose ideas have almost a material grossness, 
and whose speech to a delicate ear is a pain or 
a pollution, — the possessors, it may be, of ani- 
mal courage, but destitute of moral fortitude, 
and often cowards at heart,— these are the per- 



54 HINTS ON 

sons with whom the credit of duelling is con- 
nected, and from whom any argument against 
it meets with the most unfavourable reception. 
The reasons are obvious. A savage redress re- 
commends itself to an obtuse and brutified in- 
tellect. But there is a want of will, yet more 
than of power, to resort to a moral analysis. By 
the observance of one factitious ordinance, an im- 
munity is sought for the breach of every moral 
obligation. If inadvertently, we have given of- 
fence to a man of character and feeling, recon- 
ciliation will not be difficult ; but if we have 
come into collision with a person all but infa- 
mous, the reverse will be the result. He cannot 
afford to abate one jot of his demand. If not 
combative, he is nothing. A virtuous man may 
refuse a challenge without fear of inconsistency. 
The profligate must fight, or submit ever after 
to moral restraints. Thus duelling is the covert 
of delinquency. It may perhaps with safety be 
affirmed, that in modern times at least, a dial- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 55 

lenge was never accepted by an individual, whose 
morality, even in the eyes of the world, was not 
in some other respect open to exception. 

Against occasional interruptions to the peace 
of society, while the human constitution is sub- 
ject to its present impulses, no means will be al- 
together available. But for the production of any 
effect which makes intercourse pleasant, or even 
tolerable, a prohibitive and compulsory influence 
is worse than useless. To protect the weak 
against the strong is a benevolent design ; but to 
power, in one shape or other, deference will in- 
variably be rendered ; and if there be any un- 
willingness in its owner to wave his superiority, 
no great ingenuity will be required to depress 
and mortify a humble antagonist, without afford- 
ing the slightest pretext for a challenge. The 
most amiable of human beings may remember in- 
stances, in which, by no positive sign of dis- 
pleasure, but by a mere negation of good-will on 
his part, an act apparently gracious was meant 



56 HINTS ON 

and understood as an opposite demonstration. If 
the elements of strife abound in society, their 
hostile tendencies will operate, though not with 
convulsive violence ; but social complacency is 
more disturbed by a constant fermentation, than 
by an unusual explosion. To create an unplea- 
sant feeling, it is not necessary to say or do what 
is disagreeable — the inward sentiment will find 
an interpreter. Withdraw the will to please — 
and alienation will inevitably ensue. There is 
as great a difference between formal and free 
courtesy, as between a mechanical and a living 
impulse. The spirit of reciprocal amity is the 
only conservative principle of society. Imbued 
with it, the possessor of power is not inclined to 
misuse his advantages. Whatever be the predo- 
minant influence of a circle, it constitutes the 
standard of power among its members. The 
athlete, the author, and the philanthropist have 
their several criteria. In general society, bene- 
volence is power. By it — the physically weak 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 57 

may be morally strong, and the stronger they be- 
come, the more will they be loved. 

The plea of self- defence, claims our notice less 
on account of its intrinsic importance, than of the 
grave authority by which it has been supported, 
and the confidence with which it has been urged 
before public tribunals. In an abstract discussion, 
it is strictly inadmissible — for if it do not con- 
demn, it makes no attempt to justify the majority. 
It is a palliative plea, addressed not to general 
reason, but to the lenity of those individuals by 
whom a particular case may be tried. It asserts 
the necessity, without upholding the propriety of 
the action ; or at least maintains that it is proper 
only because it is necessary. 

Now, though, as a plea in mitigation, the cus- 
tom of society may be worthy of attention till 
the rule and the mode of manners are more in 
unison — the plea should rest on its proper footing, 
and not be confounded with a claim of undeniable 
justice. 



58 HINTS ON 

Applied to this subject, the term self-defence, 
is an unwarranted assumption. It conveys a 
meaning., wholly different from that which it bears 
in every other instance. The life of the person 
is endangered, only by that act which is alleged 
to be necessary for self-defence. It is admitted, 
that character and station may be dearer than life ; 
but still they are a species of property, and not 
existence itself. If they cannot be preserved 
without the peril or the forfeiture of life, duell- 
ing may be vindicated ; but if the case admit of 
any alternative — if there be a possibility of pre- 
serving otherwise — not a factitious and nominal 
good, but interests incalculably precious, — both 
reason and law forbid the redress, which a real 
necessity alone could have justified. 

Neither good name, nor any other interest that 
is truly valuable, are or can be affected by a prac- 
tice which is contrary to reason. Consistency of 
character is its own defence. An upright con- 
science, strong in itself, might stand against the 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 59 

world. But the world — all the abiding power 
that is in the world — is on its side. For fashion 
and convention, potent as they appear^ have a 
limited and transient influence ; they are crea- 
tures of accident and fancy ; " a breath dissolves 
" them as a breath has made ;" while truth and 
reason, founded in nature, exercise a dominion 
co-extensive with humanity, and are as little 
affected by the folly of the day, as is the stream, 
by the bubbles on its surface. By the refusal of 
a challenge, the opinion of no good man will be 
lost. Nay, more, while some would acknowledge, 
in the opposer of a vicious custom, an additional 
claim to respect, — his station in promiscuous so- 
ciety will not be in the slightest degree lowered. 
The recognition of a particular class may be with- 
held ; though, if the individual were known to act 
upon principle, even that will not be a likely re- 
sult. If it were otherwise, however, it would 
prove the heartlessness of the caste ; and though 
the slight of the unworthy may be offensive, their 



60 HINTS ON 

communion would be avoided as a matterof choice, 
and their countenance deemed of little importance. 
Were there any profession, in which pecuniary- 
interests might depend on the acknowledgment of 
false notions of honour, it would be a partial ex- 
ception to the general rule. The army * has 
sometimes, but falsely, been supposed to exhibit 
an example of so pernicious an alliance. The 
soldier is expressly prohibited from duelling — 
and it is not conceivable, that in the administra- 
tion even of military law, an individual should be 
punished, pecuniarily at least, for declining that 
which he was forbidden to do. Practice, indeed, 
so far as opinion is concerned, may annul the 
prohibition. It has modified it considerably. 
But there is not now, if there ever were, a neces- 
sity imposed upon the soldier, from which the 
civilian is free. A right motive will be estimated 

* The observations in this paragraph apply equally to 
both branches of the national service. 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 61 

in the army, as in every place where it operates. 
If the soldier he more quick to resent an affront 
— it is because he so far participates in the sen- 
timents of the unreasoning portion of society, and 
belongs to a profession, that whatever be received 
as the code of honour, must be forward to obey 
it. 

Is there, then, nothing of which an individual 
may be deprived by declining a hostile reference ? 
Nothing certainly that a wise man should for a 
moment regret. An allowance, however, may 
be made to human imperfection. The feelings 
are sometimes wounded, when reason reproves 
their sensibility. It were in vain to deny, that a 
position which is shared by the recreant is disagree- 
able, and that the ban of any portion of our fel- 
low-beings is a cause of annoyance. The peril 
that is encountered to avoid such a predicament, 
sufficiently evinces the uneasiness which it oc- 
casions. The mind may be rendered as really 
miserable, by shadowy as by substantial griev- 



62 HINTS ON 

ances. Yet no one would propose to indulge the 
humours of caprice, or to feed the wants of a dis- 
eased imagination. The value of the abstracted 
good, must not be left to the fantastic appreciation 
of the individual, but must be declared by the 
common judgment of mankind. 

Fully admitting, that the interest of the mind 
to preserve its peculiar sources of enjoyment, is 
an appreciable advantage, and may be defended 
as a property, the right must be maintained with 
a due regard to that of others. Without calling 
in question the power of demanding life for ex- 
tensive and systematic violations of property ; it 
is certain, that if the retribution be out of all pro- 
portion to the loss, in the general estimation ; it 
is injurious and criminal. An apple on a bough 
may have attracted the particular regard of its 
owner ; but if an urchin, having seized it, should 
flee and refuse to stop, to shoot him on the in- 
stant would be a flagrant act of moral injustice. 

This leads us to the consideration of the means, 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 63 

by which the end of duelling is effected. Here 
a lengthened detail is unnecessary. A gloomy 
picture might be drawn of the calamitous results 
of personal conflicts. The extinction of high 
hopes — the sudden termination of a thoughtless 
or guilty career — the shock of widowed affec- 
tions — the loss of fortune and the ruin of fami- 
lies, will readily suggest themselves to every re- 
collection. But it is enough to know, that for the 
purpose of the duellist, a lethal instrument is re* 
quisite — that punctilio is enforced by the penalty 
of death. The frequent escapes on the field of 
danger may expose the pretence, or the flurry of 
the combatants ; but the severity of the sanction 
remains unaltered. As the argument now stands 
— for a solace to injured pride — in a case where 
reason would prohibit a demand of restitution ; 
nothing will suffice but the blood of a fellow-crea- 
ture, with whose existence may be entwined a 
thousand sensibilities, not selfish and morbid, hut 
the offspring of sacred relations and domestic cha- 



64 HINTS ON 

rities. A more wanton act can scarcely be con- 
ceived. 

The true nature of duelling, is often concealed 
by the multiplicity and mixture of ideas which 
the subject suggests. But having separately exa- 
mined the component parts — having seen, that so 
far from being conducive, the custom is adverse 
to the concord of society; and that the plea of 
self-defence is wholly untenable — the character of 
the act cannot be mistaken. Duelling must be 
deemed a crime — a crime of no lighter dye, and 
entitled to no milder designation, than that of 
wilful and deliberate murder. 

From so grave a charge, it is easier to recoil 
than to escape, — for it will be difficult to shew, in 
what respect, it is either excessive or inapplicable. 

A desperate case, betimes, gives birth to a 
desperate argument. The analogy of public 
and private war, would not have been attempt- 
ed, except in a lamentable scarcity of resources. 
For supposing, that the legal and authoritative 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 65 

acts of a national executive, and the unlawful and 
arbitrary proceedings of a private individual, were 
on the same footing, the question already answer- 
ed would be tried only on a larger scale, and 
would fall to be resolved in the very same man- 
ner. Who can doubt, that the promoters of an 
unnecessary war are guilty of the highest crime, 
or imagine, that the guilt can be diminished by 
the number or magnitude of the offenders ? 

Still the charge of murder, grates upon the un- 
accustomed ear ; and the man who engages in a 
transaction before honourable witnesses, and in- 
curs an equal risk with a consenting antagonist, 
can have no conception that he is worthy of the 
scaffold. The reasons, however, on which he 
would exculpate himself, would probably have 
little weight, with him, or with any sensible jury- 
man, in a case of revenge, where the code of ho- 
nour had no application. The openness of the 
act might then be an evidence of hardihood ; and 
the peril incurred might indicate callous indiffe- 

E 



66 HINTS ON 

rence, or intense animosity. With regard to the 
other particular — the consent of his adversary — 
from that — if it be a defence — the duellist is 
plainly precluded : For, according to him, the ac- 
ceptance of a challenge is not matter of option ; 
its refusal is, in his view, an abdication of the 
world — an instant forfeiture of social existence. 
But waving the personal exception, consent, to be 
valid, must be legitimate. Would it be a de- 
fence against the claim of the lawful owner, that 
the custodier of goods betrayed his trust, and was 
a party to the theft ? No more is it a defence 
against any of the authorities, to which man owes 
his allegiance, that he consented to dispose of that 
which was not within his power. 

But the charge is not yet exhausted. The 
duellist not onlydisregards the laws of men and the 
rights of humanity — he violates the express com- 
mandments of God, and declares himself an infi- 
del. The slightest infraction of natural equity is 
an offence against the Deity ; but if nature and 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 67 

revelation concur in a prohibitory ordinance, — if 
it be equally legible on the tablet of the heart, and 
on the sacred record — disobedience or defiance can 
be referred to no other cause than infidelity. The 
delinquent may perhaps be unconscious of his cha- 
racter. He may profess, and even think that he 
believes the most orthodox creed ; but his conduct 
contradicts the supposition. A faith that has a 
firm foundation, will evince itself by the energy 
of positive principles more than by negative re- 
straints. While every commandment will be 
cheerfully obeyed, its possessor will manifest the 
love that " casteth out fear ;" and walk by the will, 
as well as by the statutes of the Deity. A fainter 
belief may acknowledge an inferior and ungra- 
cious influence. To it, the Deity may be asso- 
ciated with the whirlwind, the earthquake, and the 
fire, rather than with the still small voice. But 
no one, who is actuated either by the love or the 
fear that are the necessary accompaniments of a 
strong or a weaker faith, can consider the will 
e 2 



68 HINTS ON 

and commandment of God, in relation to the life 
of the creature, and desire or dare to oppose it. 
With regard to the assured believer, there can be 
no doubt — and if the penalty be kept in view — 
it will appear just as evident, that from a preme- 
ditated contravention of a prominent law, the 
mere bond-slave of religion will be scared by the 
terror of transgression. 

Eternal punishment is a theme which ought 
not to be lightly handled. It has often been in- 
troduced with more force than discretion, and its 
effect may have been somewhat impaired by its 
indiscriminate employment. On the present oc- 
casion it could scarcely be thought impertinent : 
but to prove the insanity of the duellist, if he be- 
lieve that his act exposed him to the divine dis- 
pleasure — it is not necessary to throw back the 
gates of Hell, and to uncover the pit of darkness. 
If he be convinced, that a punishment will be in- 
flicted in proportion to the offence — that the pe- 
nalty of his crime will be a greater evil than the 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 69 

satisfaction of his immediate desire ; he will be 
constrained, by the laws of his moral constitution, 
from deliberately committing an act inimical to 
his happiness. 

Apprehension of consequences is often refer- 
red to timidity of disposition. Courage, like many 
other qualities, has been invested with imagi- 
nary attributes. Some will profess that they 
never knew fear — others will admit no acquain- 
tance with shame. Imposture, effrontery and 
ignorance are the source of such pretensions. 
Whoever has hoped, must also have feared — who- 
ever has erred, must have reason for shame. In 
proportion to the sensibility of good will be that 
of evil — the higher the standard of taste or mo- 
rals, the more painful the consciousness of fail- 
ure or imperfection. 

No fabulous invention surpasses the idea of a 
man without fear. There is indeed a blind cou- 
rage, which the aspect of danger seems unable to 
appal. The rush of impetuous blood, and the 



7Q HINTS ON 

twang of resilient nerves, disturb the equipoise of 
reason ; and animal force, like an engine of war, 
discharges its fire in the face of destruction. 
The danger is unfelt, because it is indistinctly 
perceived. In cases of the most imminent hazard, 
a child or a drunkard may be equally fearless. 
Animal excitement is in truth a species of intoxi- 
cation. True courage, consists in the firm per- 
formance of duty, with a full knowledge of the 
peril, countervailed by the influence of superior 
principles. 

Of the invigorating power of such principles, 
the duellist can have no experience. He must 
therefore, either be blind to his danger, and con- 
sequently entitled to no credit for courage, or he 
must disbelieve that the danger exists — and so 
prove his infidelity. 

In every point of view, then, the custom of 
duelling is odious. It is adverse to good man- 
ners — contrary to reason — inconsistent with hu- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 71 

manity. It is a contempt of law, and an abnega- 
tion of religion. 



IX. — SYMPATHY WITH INFERIOR CREATURES. 

Satirical pleasantry is not the entertainment 
of an earnest or sensitive mind— otherwise the 
compassion bestowed on the simple individual 
who can live in the country without a gun or 
any other implement of sport, would be matter 
of ridicule. 

When a sportsman, elate with the success of 
consecutive seasons, expects to facilitate his in- 
tercourse with a stranger by a question as to a 
common pursuit, and hears, to his amazement, 
that his new acquaintance does not partake in it ; 
he almost feels vexed for having extorted the con- 
fession, and assumes an air of patronage towards 
the unhappy being who uttered it. 

It is really conceived, by a large class of intel- 



72 HINTS ON 

ligent and educated men, that the country is ap- 
propriated to farmers and sportsmen. Garden- 
ing, in their eye, is merely a refined species of 
agriculture — and the breath of scented fields is 
but a medicinal restorative. If in any of them 
the trace of an imaginative or poetical nature be 
discernible — it is of that rude and palpable kind 
which is attracted by stirring action and sensual 
imagery. To them, contemplation is synonymous 
with melancholy ; and the spiritual and the in- 
visible are not mysteries — but non-entities. The 
beauty of a flower is associated with their right 
of acquisition or personal embellishment. They 
may relish a minstrel's tale of feud and foray, and 
their blood may glow with the impulse of woman, 
war and wine ; but they have no delight in com- 
munion with nature, and in the personification of 
inanimate objects. They would as soon expect 
to find fish in the fields and fruits in the sea, as 

" Tongues in the trees — books in the running brooks, 
" Sermons in stones, and good in every thing," 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 73 

Yet nobody thinks that he has a better title to 
be called a lover of nature than the sportsman. 
Upland and meadow, dingle, lake and stream are 
the haunts of his happiest hours, — they abound 
in their respective species of game. To him, na- 
ture is not a varied manifestation of power and 
beauty — an expression of the love that pervades 
the universe, — but an exhibition of animal and 
vegetable properties, — a picture of objects that 
administer to his favourite pursuits. Nothing ap- 
pears to him so exquisitely natural as a trout 
gasping on a bank, or a heathfowl beating the 
ground with blood-stained plumage. If in a col- 
lection of paintings he were asked to point out 
the most vivid representation of nature, he 
would pass by as fine a landscape as ever was de- 
lineated, and turn to a barege simile of some- 
thing homely or familiar, such as, " Dead or living 
" game," — or a dresser heaped with a medley of 
viands : or if he should prefer a more animated 
subject, his choice would fall on a fox-chase, or 



74 HINTS ON 

perhaps he might find no match to the rat-hunt 
in a stack-yard. 

When men are hunters from necessity, and 
when the pursuit is accompanied with peril not 
wantonly incurred ; the quest of wild animals may 
be consistent with the love of nature. The In- 
dian delights in the pathless forest, — not so much 
because it supplies to him the means of existence, 
and is the scene of those efforts which he counts 
among his labours rather than his pleasures, — as 
because it protects his liberty, and permits the 
indulgence of his wandering habits. Though 
every inferior animal acts in subservience to its 
instinctive propensities ; a carnivorous bird, or a 
savage beast of prey, may be destroyed without 
violence to human sympathy. To despatch the 
vulture feeding on a carcase, or the tiger couching 
in the jungle, would excite a feeling of satisfac- 
tion. The chamois hunter, connecting the ex- 
citement of his occupation, and his hair-breadth 
escapes, with the game that he follows, may be 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 75 

attached at the same time to nature and the chase. 
Nor, though it might occasion some regret, — being 
personally secure, — to strike down an eagle soar- 
ing in its " pride of place,"- — could he, who, at the 
imminent peril of his life, had scaled its abode in 
the cliffs, be accused of inhumanity,— if he pluck- 
ed a feather from its wing, and wore it on his cap 
as a badge of his conquest. 

In admitting that the chase is not an unfeeling 
nor improper occupation, provided there be a 
sufficient degree of excitement, or a natural an- 
tipathy to the qualities by which the object of 
pursuit is characterised ; it may be thought that 
a very large allowance has been made to the love 
of sport. For, in the hunting field, the spirits are 
at the acme of excitement, — the cry of the dogs, 
— the fervour of the horses, and the glee of the 
company kindle the blood ; and the flame is not 
lessened by dashing through hedges, spanning 
ditches, and leaping over five-barred gates. Again, 
not to speak of the animals which pass by the 



76 HINTS ON 

name of vermin, — either those which lurk in the 
woods, or those which infest the barn and breed 
in every cranny, — the cunning nature and preda- 
tory habits of the fox seem to have but a slender 
claim to sympathy. 

Notwithstanding, the opinion before expressed 
requires no modification. In all rural employ- 
ments, the healthful influence of fresh breezes 
and pure air must not be entirely kept out of 
view ; but beyond this, the pleasures of the fox- 
hunter depend in no degree upon the rural cha- 
racter of the scene in which they are procured. 
His excitement is akin to the fever of the cock- 
pit. He would rather breathe the im purest at- 
mosphere with a throbbing pulse, than inhabit 
another Eden with unruffled veins. It would 
perhaps be unfair to assign the proverbial repu- 
tation of the old to the modern fox-hunter. But 
the latter retrieves himself from the predicament 
only by a diminished devotion and less cordial 
participation. For the time he occupies a simi- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 77 

lar position. He uses noble materials for an insig* 
nificant purpose. Any danger which he en- 
counters is not necessary for the end. but is sought 
for its own sake. But even in the extinction of 
noxious creatures, — if the end be subordinate to 
the mean, the reflective, nay the rational na- 
ture, — has been dormant. Humanity has been 
misemployed. 

A great proportion, however, of the sportsman's 
toils derive no interest from danger, and no motive 
from antipathy. The most timid and defenceless 
animals — creatures distinguished by elegance and 
beauty — forms that discover the most amiable at- 
tributes of sentient being, are the victims of his re- 
morseless persecution. To suppose that the per- 
son who can witness a hare pursued by greyhounds, 
and listen to its dying cries without a feeling of 
pain, has any perception of Nature's love, or the 
impulses of true humanity, would involve an un- 
paralleled anomaly. Let convention judge as it 
will, — such a person, if not a stock or a stone, ci- 



78 HINTS ON 

ther degrades his better feelings under its influ- 
ence — or he is at heart a ruthless savage, and is 
indebted for whatever correctness of deportment 
he may exhibit in society to imitation and re- 
straint. 

Is the earth then to be overrun by the inferior 
animals — are the fruits of industry to be spoiled — 
or is provision to be made for vermin, as it is said 
to be among some of the Hindoos, on a principle 
of religion ? Undoubtedly not. An alternate pro- 
cess of generation and destruction takes place in 
the economy of nature ; and by the obedience of 
every creature to the law of its being — the ba- 
lance is preserved, and the general good promoted. 
By instinct, some animals pursue and make prey 
of others ; — by reason, man is induced to check the 
redundance of both. His constitution is evidently 
adapted for the consumption of animal as well as 
vegetable food. He partakes, not only without re- 
pugnance, but with relish, of the meat that has 
been procured from the shambles. The butcher 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 79 

who puts an animal to death with the least pos- 
sible expense of time and suffering, has a dis- 
agreeable, and to many a revolting, but yet not 
an unreasonable occupation. But to haunt the 
slaughter-house, and to wield the hatchet as a 
pastime, would give cause to suspect a sangui- 
nary disposition. 

Opposition to sporting on rational principles is 
not to be confounded with a Brahminical supersti- 
tion, or an affectation or excess of sentiment. For 
purposes of utility, the lower animals are at the 
free disposal of man. He is authorised by rea- 
son to provide for his own necessities, and to 
check their superabundance, by the speediest 
modes of capture and destruction. But he is in 
like manner forbidden, by reason and the best 
feelings of humanity, from making their slaughter 
the source of his amusement. 

The resources to which men betake themselves 
to defend the acts of a selfish will are manifold. 
So far from being chargeable with inhumanity, 



BO HINTS ON 

the sportsman sometimes contends, that when the 
miseries to which the inferior races are subject 
in the course of nature are considered — he has 
a claim to be reckoned their benefactor — for 
abridging the term of a painful existence. He 
would have us to believe that a sporting excur- 
sion is a mission of benevolence. His doings, 
nevertheless, we would class with the tender 
mercies that are cruel. The grateful savour of 
existence, under almost any form, may be guess- 
ed from our own consciousness. If Providence 
permit a lengthened age — it cannot be presumed, 
without an impeachment of His goodness, that he 
does not co-extend the meaus of enjoyment. If 
he have ordered its abbreviation by the destruc- 
tive powers conferred on other creatures — a hu- 
man agent in co-operating, classes itself with 

them, or the inadequacy of unreasoning instinct 

is left to be supplied by the sympathies of reflec- 
tive humanity. 

This would imply, either a conversion of rea- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 81 

son into instinct, or exhibit the extraordinary 
phenomenon of a sentiment of pain, being trans- 
muted by a process of reason, into a feeling of 
pleasure. The idea of a sportsman's motive be- 
ing other than that of his own gratification or be- 
nefit, when gravely exposed, is too favourably 
treated. Either view him in the field — or hear 
him at the table— and the sparkle of exulting va- 
nity betrays the ascendancy of personal triumph, 
in a manner not to be mistaken. 

There is a mode of treating a subject, which 
if not unfair, is illiberal and severe. An act is 
submitted to a searching analysis — it is exhibited 
in its different bearings, and viewed in all its re- 
lations. The latent truth, when prominently set 
forth, cannot be gainsaid ; and in the moment 
of his concession, and when he is encompassed 
with irresistible convictions, the individual who 
committed the act in a state of inconsideration or 
ignorance, is arraigned, as if he had been fully 
aware of every circumstance by which an earnest 
F 



82 HINTS ON 

accuser can aggravate the charge. The pleasure 
that accompanies every exercise of power, is pre- 
sent even in the force of a moral impeachment — 
especially if the accused be intrenched in public 
opinion, or possessed of any other stronghold — 
and without intending to be disingenuous, the 
impetus of invective may carry the assailant be- 
yond the legitimate object of attack ; — while the 
latter, overwhelmed by indignant obloquy, and 
impressed more by present than by previous con- 
victions, may feel condemned in the eyes of 
others ; and himself conclude that there is a fal- 
lacy, only by being conscious, that if possessed 
of his moral identity, he was incapable of the tur- 
pitude which is laid to his charge. 

To accuse the sportsman of wilful cruelty, would 
exemplify such a mode of treatment. The palpi- 
tating breast and lacerated nerve might be pain- 
fully pourtrayed. He could not deny that the 
dying convulsions of an animated creature were 
simultaneous with his own complacent smiles. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 83 

But except where the appeal to humanity is so 
clamant, that it must either be admitted or reject- 
ed — inattention being impossible — -he might ne- 
vertheless refuse to plead guilty to the charge of 
wilful cruelty. Knowing that his heart is respon- 
sive to the calls of affection, and alive to domes- 
tic and social charities, he would deem such a 
charge utterly false, instead of being, as it is, only 
exaggerated. If he had been aware of all that 
ought to have been present to his mind, it would 
be perfectly true. In many cases the plea of in- 
consideration would be inadmissible. In the pre- 
sent instance, however, it would be unjust to 
overlook it, paying a due regard to the difference 
between an undesigned and a purposed inadver- 
tence. 

It is not then maintained, that the sportsman is 
in the general case, wilfully cruel. He is cruel 
only in so far as he shuts his eyes, or stops his 
ears, against obvious impressions. The alembic 
of malice could scarcely extract from unmixed 
f2 



84 HINTS ON 

pain a feeling of pleasure. Even with demoniac 
spite we connect a craving for sympathy. But 
in consideration may be in a high degree culpable. 
When it proceeds from ignorance, it implies a 
gross or a contracted nature, and defective intel- 
lect. When it is voluntary, though the influ- 
ence on the affections may be less pernicious, 
than if sights and sounds of torture had been cal- 
lously encountered, it is in moral estimation, a like 
cruelty. The hand that orders, and the eye that 
witnesses, the pains of the rack, belong to kin- 
dred temperaments ; and any difference which there 
is between them, may be ascribed, not to humane, 
but selfish regards. 

The key to the whole question is contained in 
the closing stanza of a poem, which cannot be 
read without an expansion of natural sympathies, 
" Wordsworth's Hart Leap Well." 

" One lesson, Shepherd, let us two divide, 

" Taught by what nature shews, and what conceals, 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 85 

« Never to blend our pleasure or our pride, 

" With sorrow of the meanest thing that feels V 

* The praise which Wordsworth bestows upon Walton, 
in one of his sonnets, 

" While flowing rivers yield a harmless sport, 

" Shall live the name of Walton ; sage benign" — 

is not very consistent with the moral of Hart Leap Well. 
The author of the Seasons, in like manner, has condemn- 
ed the cruelty of hare-hunting, and described the delights 
of salmon-fishing. To deem the fish a cold-blooded, 
and comparatively impassive animal, approaches very 
near to the philosophy of the eel-skinner. But poets 
have often a pleasure in description, which they have not 
in pursuit. 

A still greater inconsistency is exhibited by a person, 
who, with a profession — sincere it may be — of extraor- 
dinary devoutness, unites a love of sport, and devotes 
himself alternately to the saving of souls and the killing 
of game. Does the man, who for his selfish pleasure, 
wounds and slays a number of happy creatures, conceive 
that he possesses a Christian tenderness of spirit ? If so, 
what an exaggerated idea does he entertain of his own 
importance, — how limited a view of his relations, — how 
little sympathy does he manifest with the divine good- 
ness ! To such a person we would recommend the per- 



86 HINTS ON 



X. — SOCIAL DUTY. 

In the principles which should regulate an in- 
dividual, his social duty is necessarily involved. 

usal of Dr Chalmers's Sermon on Cruelty to Animals, 
and would draw his notice, in a particular manner, to 
the concluding appeal. 

" The lesson of this day is not the circulation of bene- 
' ' volence within the limits of one species. It is the trans- 
" mission of it from one species to another. The first is 
" but the charity of a world. The second is the charity 
" of a universe. Had there been no such charity, no 
" descending current of love and of liberality from spe- 
" cies to species, what, I ask, should have become of our- 
" selves? Whence have we learned this attitude of lofty 
<l unconcern about the creatures who are beneath us ? 
" Not from those ministering spirits who wait upon the 
" heirs of salvation. Not from those angels who circle 
" the throne of heaven, and make all its arches ring with 
" joyful harmony, when but one sinner of this prostrate 
" world turns his footsteps towards them. Not from that 
" mighty and mysterious visitant, who unrobed Him of 
" all his glories, and bowed down his head unto the sacri- 
" fice, and still, from the seat of his now exalted media- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 87 

The development of particular excellence implies 
the public advantage ; — and no one who has been 

(< torship, pours forth his intercessions and his calls in 
" behalf of the race he died for. Finally, not from the 
-" Eternal Father of all, in the pavilion of whose residence 
" there is the golden treasury of all those bounties and 
" beatitudes that roll over the face of nature, and from 
li the footstool of whose empyreal throne there reaches a 
" golden chain of providence to the very humblest of his 
" family. He who hath given his angels charge concern- 
" ing us, means that the tide of beneficence should pass 
" from order to order through all the ranks of his magni- 
" ticent creation ; and we ask, is it with man that this 
" goodly provision is to terminate, — or shall he, with all 
" his sensations of present blessedness, and all his visions 
" of future glory let down upon him from above, shall he 
" turn him selfishly and scornfully away from the rights 
u of those creatures whom God hath placed in depen- 
" dence under him ? We know that the cause of poor 
" and unfriended animals has many an obstacle to con- 
li tend with in the difficulties or the delicacies of legisla- 
" tion. But we shall ever deny that it is a theme beneath 
" the dignity of legislation ; or that the nobles and sena- 
" tors of our land stoop to a cause which is degrading, 
" when, in the imitation of heaven's high clemency, they 
" look benignly downward on these humble and helpless 



88 HINTS ON 

rightly instructed as to his personal conduct, will 
be ignorant of what he owes to the community. 

c< sufferers. Ere we can admit this, we must forget the 
" whole economy of our blessed gospel. We must for- 
" get the legislations and the cares of the upper sanctuary 
" in behalf of our fallen species. We must forget that 
" the redemption of our world is suspended on an act of 
" jurisprudence which angels desired to look into, and 
" for effectuating which, the earth we tread upon was 
c * honoured by the footsteps, not of angel or of archangel, 
" but of God manifest in the flesh. The distance up- 
" ward between us and that mysterious Being, who let 
" himself down from heaven's high concave upon our 
" lowly platform, surpasses by infinity the distance down- 
" ward between us and every thing that breathes. And 
" he bowed himself thus far, for the purpose of an ex- 
" ample, as well as for the purpose of an expiation, that 
" every Christian might extend his compassionate regards 
" over the whole of sentient and suffering nature. The 
" high court of Parliament is not degraded by its atten- 
" tions and its cares in behalf of inferior creatures, else 
" the sanctuary of heaven has been degraded by its coun- 
" cils in behalf of the world we occupy, and in the exe-* 
" cution of which the Lord of heaven himself relinquish- 
" ed the highest seat of glory in the universe, and went 
" forth to sojourn for a time on this outcast and accursed 
" territory.' ' 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 89 

A social obligation in any degree different from 
a private duty could scarcely arise — if the sepa- 
rate members of society duly cultivated their se- 
veral capacities. A general supervision has a 
regard to individual neglect ; and the reform of a 
common evil can be effected only by the definite 
and well-directed exertions, both of the prime 
movers, and those to whom the impulse is com- 
municated. The effectual agents in such a re- 
form, are they who stand in need of it. The per- 
sons who recommend it, can do little more than 
point, to what others must prosecute. 

Often as the illusions of an ambitious philan- 
thropy have been exposed — the mind, from its 
natural tendency to be affected by magnitude, 
continues to prefer a wide to a narrow sphere ; 
and sometimes overlooks a real and immediate 
benefit in pursuit of an imaginary and distant 
good. It may be true, that there is a reflex in- 
fluence in the progressive movement; and that 
the promoter of general schemes of benevolence 



90 HINTS ON 

will most readily engage in its particular exer- 
cises. But the welfare of the receiver would be 
entitled to more regard than the feelings of the 
giver — if their interests were not completely in 
unison. They are, however, quite accordant. It 
must be the desire of benevolence, to operate 
where its exertions are most likely to be attend- 
ed with benefit ; and though not deadened by dis- 
appointment, it must derive encouragement from 
success ; and delight in the fulfilment of its fond 
expectations. 

Magnificent projects admit of no comparison 
with actual achievements. The desires of man 
are infinite, and his mind ranges through creation 
with untraceable celerity. But beyond the con- 
sciousness of spiritual existence, and immaterial 
attributes, this excursive flight leads to no dis- 
covery. In nature, the growth of what is destin- 
ed to endure, is rarely the object of ocular per- 
ception. Science advances by slow degrees, and 
though i rapt' Genius 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 91 

" Glances from heaven to earth — from earth to heaven,'* 
its progress for the most part is through a re- 
sisting medium, and its enduring monuments, 
like the pyramids, are reared by accumulated la- 
bours. In the acquisition of material advantages, 
the expediency of proceeding, with a respect to 
our means of securing and maintaining the object 
of our pursuit, will be readily acknowledged ; — 
and in aiming at results, where the good is of a 
mixed nature — being composed of both moral and 
physical benefit — if sufficient attention be bestow- 
ed, the same expediency will not fail to be recog- 
nised. 

It is of the utmost importance, therefore, even 
when the interest of society is the end to be con- 
sidered, that every man should be convinced, that 
he can in no way advance it so effectually, as 
by a right formation of his individual character. 
Whatever be the degree of his activity, or the 
extent of his munificence in his public relations, — 
while there is disorder in his own bosom, with its 



92 HINTS ON 

concomitant expression, — though it should produce 
no worse effect than a saturnine aspect — instead 
of being valuable to society, on account of his zeal 
and generosity, he interrupts its harmony by his 
internal discord. There is a gross deception in 
supposing, that benevolence can exist without a 
focus ; and that its glow can be imparted to dis- 
tant objects, while those which are intermediate 
or nearer, partake not in its radiation. The cha- 
rity that embraces the horizon of humanity must 
emanate from home. The niggard in domestic, can- 
not be liberal in social affection. The same foun- 
tain cannot send forth sweet water and bitter. Spe- 
cious designs and grand undertakings, for the good 
of others, must be attributed to superstition, va- 
nity or policy, when the private conduct of their 
supporters is inconsistent with the idea of bene- 
volence. A sincere, though sanguine, tempera- 
ment may be partial to a comprehensive enter- 
prise : but its exertions will be disproportioned — 
not contradictory. If not disheartened at the out- 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 93 

set, it will derive, from experience, an increase 
of discretion, without an abatement of zeal. The 
efficacy of an influence is not to be estimated by 
its outward potency, and the claims which it pre- 
sents to vulgar notice. There are principles in 
the moral as in the natural world, which, by 
silent and constant operation, transcend, in actual 
effect, the most sublime displays of visible ener- 
gy. Good, like evil, has an assimilating tendency, 
Its least particle may produce an infinite result ; 
and the latent power of humble virtue exceed in 
salutary operation, the flash of enthusiasm and 
the burst of emotion, — as much as the secret 
force by which the globe is upheld — the instant 
lightning, and the reverberating thunder. 

The conviction of this truth is a powerful en- 
couragement to perseverance in duty. In the 
humblest nature there are high aspirations ; and 
though the man of thorough principle would not 
withhold his best endeavours, if he had no other 
stimulus, than the sense of his obligation ; it must 



94 HINTS ON 

be cheering to reflect, that his least effort has a 
productive sequence, and that however insignifi- 
cant he may be in the world's estimation, he dis- 
charges an honourable part, and will, in no wise, 
pass unrewarded. When the meridian of life is 
attained, without a wreath of civil or military 
fame, the heart that once swelled with ambitious 
hopes is ready to sink, and its obscure possessor 
to count himself a cipher. If he have abandoned 
himself to unavailing regrets, he is not so blame- 
less. But, on the other hand, if he have drawn 
from adversity " its sweet uses," if he have been 
" faithful among the faithless," if, amid abounding 
corruption, he have maintained his purity and 
truth ; he may have better fulfilled the purpose of 
his being, and be more worthy of honour, than if, 
with less of moral worth, he had reached the sum- 
mit of worldly distinction. 

The importance of private virtue, and the ad- 
vantage to be derived from the exercise of bene- 
volence in a defined locality, have been forcibly 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 95 

exhibited by a writer *, whose imaginative power 
has not withdrawn him from minute and practi- 
cal inquiries. There is no reason that in any in- 
stance such a separation should take place. It is 
often imagined that enthusiasm and zeal are in- 
compatible with plain and ordinary duties. But 
the chief recommendation of a distinct and fami- 
liar sphere in the exercise of duty, is the superior 
means which it affords for keeping alive, and aug- 
menting that ardour and devotedness of spirit 
which are the soul of charity — but which, in am- 
bitious projects, if active at the beginning, soon 
languishes for want of appropriate nourishment, 
and often evanishes altogether, or reappears only 
in momentary gleams. 

The first locality, then, which a friend to so- 
ciety should occupy, is his own heart. Its culti- 
vation and improvement will benefit himself and 
his household — through them it will pass to the 
neighbourhood — from the neighbourhood to the 

* Chalmers. 



98 HINTS ON 

community — from the community to the country 
—from the country to the world, and through 
every ramification of society. 

But in the present condition of mankind, no 
individual of right feeling can regard his own im- 
provement as the sum of his social duty. If the 
poverty and misery that certainly exist in the 
community were visibly present to its prosperous 
members, their enjoyment would be at an end. 
We are so constituted, that our immediate sym- 
pathies produce a deeper impression than our re- 
flective judgments. This is the cause of our be- 
ing painfully affected by the sight of distress, 
notwithstanding of our confidence in the good- 
ness of the Deity. On the other hand, we can 
pursue the business, and partake in the pleasures 
of life, when we know, but do not actually see 
the affliction by which we are surrounded. Un- 
less it be brought home to us by striking or par- 
ticular circumstances — it is then the subject of 
reflexion rather than of feeling ; and instinctive 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 97 

sympathies are no hindrance to the operation of 
reason. 

We must beware, however, of abusing a salu- 
tary principle, and must not convert our trust in 
Providence into a motive for inactivity. There is 
every reason to conclude, that the worst evils, are 
in the hands of the Sovereign Disposer, instru- 
ments of good. The relief and the removal of 
human ills are evidently the objects of a divine 
economy; but the sympathies of men are as 
evidently subservient to its purposes. So far as 
they are available, they must be willingly bestow- 
ed ; and it is only when an individual has endea- 
voured to discharge his duty, by doing all within 
the compass of humanity, that he can derive any 
consolation from reflecting that evil overruled, is 
a minister of good ; and that " man's extremity 
" is God's opportunity." 

There being no doubt, therefore, as to the ob- 
ligation of an individual to use every effort for the 

G 



98 HINTS ON 

diminution of social evils ; it is necessary to as- 
certain the manner in which the object is to be 
effected. For the application of improper reme- 
dies aggravates the disease — injudicious assis- 
tance is a premium to misconduct. The evils of 
pauperism can hardly be overrated. Idleness, — 
improvidence, — want of self-dependence and re- 
spect — interference with the wages of industry — 
increasing rapacity — destruction of capital — con- 
tamination of public morals — these, if not inse- 
parable from any system of poor laws, have 
hitherto accompanied their abused administration. 
Without deciding on the possibility of poor laws 
under a proper management being available to 
the purpose of their enactment — we may at least 
conclude, that in themselves — with any thing 
but a bare subsistence in cases of otherwise irre- 
mediable indigence — a subsistence inferior to that 
of the poorest labourer — no provision being made 
for an amendment of morals, — though in form a 
benefit — they are, in fact, a bane to any country. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 99 

Voluntary contributions on a comprehensive 
scale — where the evil admits of increase by a re- 
laxation of industrial effort, — are exposed to simi- 
lar objections. A large class of cases remains, in 
which no injury can result from public benevo- 
lence. The blind, — the deaf and dumb, — the maim - 
ed and diseased, — the fatuous and the insane, and 
all those whose misfortunes are not the offspring 
of their own imprudence and neglect, may receive 
the bounty of an unrestrained compassion. Nor 
would we abandon the outcast, or the victim of 
repented folly. God forbid ! We would treat 
him still with brotherly tenderness. We would 
only prevent him from abusing the public sym- 
pathy, by mistaking his position, and claiming as 
a right what he should regard as a boon *. 

* Scripture is sometimes cited as an authority, where 
a change of circumstance renders an obedience of the 
letter, a contradiction of the spirit. The poverty produ- 
ced by misfortune or oppression, and that which proceeds 
from a reliance on other men's labours, cannot be deser- 
ving of the same treatment. The principle of benevo- 

g2 



100 



HINTS ON 



If the system of locality, which has been so 
strongly recommended by the writer, to whom 
we have already alluded, were carried into effect 
— methodised schemes for the relief of poverty 
might be superseded ; and surely, the adoption of 
such a system is not to be reckoned among the 
day-dreams of a visionary philanthropy. We 
would hope that the time is not far distant, when 
in the largest cities there will be such a division 
of benevolent superintendency, that every indivi- 
dual will be the subject, not of a suspicious in- 
quisition, but of a welcome communion, — when 
innocent distress, and inevitable indigence, will 
be as sure of relief as imposture of detection. 

In the meanwhile, however, the experiment of 
dissolving societies of doubtful tendency might 
be severe. While we have provided no substitute, 
the refusal of our alms, where feeling and rea- 

lence — the desire to effect the greatest amount of good — 
preserves its identity, how contrary soever may be the 
modes of its operation. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 101 

son are in opposition, approaches, in some de- 
gree, to that presumptuous trust which implies 
a forgetfulness of our own duty. But this should 
urge us to lose no time in procuring the substi- 
tute. 

Nor will a tedious search be necessary. A re- 
ligious and moral education is the only effectual 
bulwark against pauperism. Whether a legal 
rate or voluntary charity is to meet the claims of 
indigence, — without public instruction there can 
be no basis of progressive amelioration. The 
prejudice which exists against the diffusion of 
knowledge among the people, calls for compassion 
rather than exposure. The advantage of acqui- 
ring the signs of knowledge may have been over- 
rated. To read and write are not, to know, but 
to have the means of knowing *. The value of 
mere intelligence, also, may have been too highly 

* Journal of Education, art. Public Instruction, 
No. 11, p. 50. 



102 HINTS ON 

prized. If the apprehensive faculties only, have 
been exercised, the moral powers may be languid 
or dormant. The effect of intelligence appears 
to hold a middle place, between the exaggeration 
of one class, and the depreciation of another. It 
is neither an absolute preventive, nor a likely 
provocative of evil. It increases the capacity of 
the sentient being. The enlargement of the mind, 
and the prosecution of intellectual pursuits, have 
a salutary tendency ; and their influence may well 
counterpoise the danger of enlivened susceptibi- 
lity, — if the Will exhibit no oblique inclination ; 
but if selfish passion be its governor, the benefit 
of intelligence may not only be counteracted, 
but perverted. For great as is the power of know- 
ledge in regulating the affections, it either has an 
independent existence, or by the manner in which 
it is exercised may be considered as ,if it were 
altogether distinct, and may act either as a sove- 
reign or a minister. Till it passes into wisdom, 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 103 

and assumes the moral supremacy, it will be sub- 
servient to passionate volitions, and perhaps to 
vicious propensities *. 

* Fully to develop the relative offices of the human 
faculties, would occupy more space, than the generality 
of readers would patiently survey. The primary truths 
of mental philosophy, it is to be feared, often share the 
same fate, as the cobwebs of metaphysical sophistry. 
The constitution of mind and body excites little inte- 
rest, even among those, who have received what is term- 
ed, a liberal education. But while recondite inquiries 
may be left to men of science, — an elementary know- 
ledge both of the mental and bodily powers, can be with- 
held from none, without injurious consequences. It is 
of little avail, that duties are explained and enforced ; 
if the capacities of the agent be not applied to their re- 
spective uses. To apprehend moral truth, by a purely 
intellectual process, is a vain endeavour ; and yet, it is 
very common to regard the understanding, as the sole 
medium of judgment, and entirely to overlook the fact, 
that there is a moral, as well as an intellectual reason ; 
and that the most valuable knowledge, has no other 
avenue, than that of the affections. Much of what ap- 
pears at first sight, an intellectual exercise, has a refe- 
rence to moral action ; and this is a reason for attribut- 



104 HINTS ON 

The utmost depravity is often combined with 
great intelligence ; but, generally speaking, an intel- 

ing to it more efficacy, than if it had no connexion 
with the will. 

On the following points, if the evidence were pon- 
dered, a large proportion of impartial observers would 
probably coincide : 

1. That the mind, though existing at different times, 
in different states, is simple, and indivisible in its es- 
sence. 

2. That there are certain first principles of knowledge, 
and likewise inherent feelings, which cannot be ascri- 
bed to any mental process. 

3. That the mind, perceiving the relation between 
objects of simple apprehension, and discerning their 
difference, understands, and reasons. 

4. That the mind, directed by its emotions, not only 
acts and feels ; but discovers and eliminates moral truth. 
The same remark may be applied to the perception of 
beauty. 

5. That conscience is to the moral, what understand- 
ing is to the intellectual nature. 

6. That the mental faculties have a mutual influence ; 
and though, what at first was received by the under- 
standing only, may afterwards have an effect on the con- 
duct, — not in consequence of the original admission 3 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 105 

ligent will be a reputable member of society. Misery 
is both the consequence and the cause of crime. 
Ignorance begets idleness, and idleness engenders 
misery ; therefore, the removal of ignorance must 
be beneficial. That degree of activity which the 
possession of intelligence implies, is incompatible 
with a passive submission to the ills of an abject 
and grovelling condition. The man who has any 
knowledge of himself, or of the world's resources, 
will not be content to starve or beg, or to feed at 
the swine trough. If the field of supply admitted 
of no extension, intelligence might furnish more 
weapons to rapacity ; but it adds to the old and 
opens up new materials. To anticipate a redun- 
dance of mankind, does not belong to this, nor 
will probably to any generation ; but, till the earth 

— but of the subsequent application, — the opposite in- 
fluence is both more frequent and powerful : — That 
the will, except in the face of the most rigid demon- 
stration, refuses to admit an unwelcome conclusion ; 
and that vicious passions, hinder not merely the prac- 
tice, but also, the perception of virtue. 



106 HINTS ON 

is exhausted, the work of improvement may be 
zealously promoted*. 

* Were it not for the pressure of population in one 
place, vast regions of the earth might continue to bear 
ungathered fruits. This surely cannot be presumed to 
be the plan of the divine economy. The opponents of 
population would postpone the time of marriage, so as 
to render emigration unnecessary. Are they aware of 
the extent of the requisite protraction ? Do they not see, 
that they must come at length to a point in time, in the 
same manner as they allege their adversaries must arrive 
at a point in space, where marriage must cease? And in 
the meantime, what becomes of the influence of irregular 
passion? Do they suppose that it can be generally coun- 
teracted by improved morality ? and if it could — has the 
Deity provided inadequately for the temperate desires of 
moral beings? 

A right view of this subject is of vital importance 
to all classes of society ; for the association of marriage 
with inferior purposes has a tendency to debase the tone 
of every station. The advocate of late marriages exclaims 
against sensual indulgence, while the reward which he 
holds out to abstinence, is, after all, only an accumulated 
store of physical comfort. It seems to be forgotten, that, 
as the body has its wants, the heart has its yearnings ; and 
that to provide for the former at the expense of the latter, 
is a manifest inversion. The neglect of either, nature 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 107 

There is no reason, however, to contend stre- 
nuously for the advantage to be derived from 

forbids, — and annexes to her decrees proportionate penal- 
ties. To degrade woman to a species of household com- 
modity ; or to look upon her merely as an instrument of 
pleasure and productiveness ; lowers her character, and 
withdraws a most powerful inducement to interior cul- 
ture. The conversion of matrimony from a communion 
of hearts to a participation of the bed, has already told 
with fearful effect on female education, and has of course 
extended its influence to the other sex, rendering them 
frivolous and superficial. External garniture and mere- 
tricious embellishments abound. If a man be in search 
of a woman to bear his name, spend his money, and be 
the mistress of his establishment, his pursuit needs not be 
tedious. But a woman fitted alike for prosperous and 
adverse fortune, who, instead of a barren surface, decked 
with artificial garlands, has in herself the germ of loveli- 
ness, and whose constant expression is a development of 
feminine excellence and beauty, — a woman, worthy of 
the name, — is as rare as she is valuable. As long as mar- 
riage is reckoned the voluptuous reward of garnered 
wealth, and unsolaced labours — rather than an encourage- 
ment to united perseverance — under the guise of wedlock 
a system of legalised prostitution, with all its attendant 
evils, must accompany the bane of unlicensed profligacy. 
The honest indignation which arises against an unna- 



108 HINTS ON 

mere intelligence. If it really were noxious without 
proper accompaniments, the consequence would 
be, — not that intelligence should be withheld, but 
that morality should be superadded. Perhaps none 
of our seminaries of education has attended suf- 
ficiently to the compound nature of the human 
constitution. Every plan for the training of youth 
which does not make provision for a proportionate 
exercise of the physical, intellectual, and moral 
powers, is incomplete. But the principle begins 
to be recognised, and the most salutary results 
may be expected from its adoption. There may 
be a difference of opinion with respect to the exe- 
cution, but there seems no ground for denying 
the practicability of the object. Other states have 
set the example of rendering education universal. 
If the community were moral and intelligent, the 

tural theory is not to be rated as a puerile sentimentality. 
And they who cannot offer their own experience in proof 
of their doctrines, should be especially diffident in recom- 
mending to others a state of which they are ignorant. 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 109 

particular mechanism of local agencies for the 
supply of its wants, would be rendered compara- 
tively immaterial by the efficacy of a pervading 
principle. How varied soever the means, the end 
is one, — the sound education of every individual. 
To the teachers, an acquaintance with human 
nature will be indispensable. But, fortunately, 
neither they nor their pupils will be left to the 
unassisted light of nature in their respective ex- 
ertions. The Bible is the interpreter and the 
guide of humanity — a luminous exponent of that 
part of nature to which it relates ; and if the com- 
munication of the Scriptures be not attended with 
greater difficulty than that of any other species of 
knowledge, the advantage of a moral, as well as 
an intellectual education, may be offered to all the 
families of the realm *. 

* The necessity of religion, not only as the basis, but 
as the end of education, may be admitted without that 
superstitious confidence, which is sometimes bestowed on 
the instruments of spiritual culture. The Bible itself is 
frequently regarded as an amulet, possessing a mysterious 



110 HINTS ON 

The instruction of the ignorant is a preventive 
— the support of the needy, under the guise of 

potency against the powers of evil ; and the utterance of 
a text as endued with exorcising virtue. Instead of be- 
ing explained, illustrated and applied, — the Word of God, 
which, when brought to bear upon the conscience, by 
earnest preaching, or by prayer and meditation, is quick 
and powerful, and sharper than any " tw r o- edged sword, 
" piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, 
" and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the 
ct thoughts and intents of the heart," — considered as a 
holy charm, and as miraculously energetic, — betrays both 
those who communicate and those who receive it, into a 
fatal neglect of the means, which the Spirit employs in the 
administration of His bounty. In like manner, — a church, 
— the mere external edifice, with perhaps the unimportant 
addition of a frigid service upon the Sabbath, is con- 
ceived to have a sanative influence, in the midst of a 
tainted community. An increase of churches, has been 
represented, as indispensable for the commonwealth. 
This proposition must be admitted, or denied, according 
to the idea which is entertained, of a church. If it be 
thought, that to constitute a church, no more is necessary 
than a building with a belfry, — a clergyman with a sti- 
pend, — and a congregation with some degree of reverence 
for ecclesiastical routine, — there might be churches in 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 1 1 1 

relief, is often a cause — of the evil which it would 
cure. As the most important charity that can 

every street, — and the populace remain in a state of un- 
redeemed wretchedness. Public worship, performed as 
a duty, rather than embraced as a privilege, is a dreary 
ceremonial : — and it might quicken the zeal of many, who 
content themselves with doling out a weekly prelection, 
to know with what weariness of heart, their passive 
auditors listen to discourses, which instead of enlivening 
the affections and moving the conscience of " creatures 
" hastening to death and to judgment," — are composed 
and delivered, as if the preacher had studied humanity, 
only in his closet, and wanted either power or will to par- 
ticipate in its sympathies. But, if by a church, be signi- 
fied, — not only a house dedicated to the worship of God, 
but also, a complete apparatus of ecclesiastical tuition ; 
by means of which, a defined district may be thoroughly 
superintended, — the advantages to be derived from such 
institutions are probably not overrated. To take from 
the Church, a single fraction for purposes wholly secular, 
would be a dangerous precedent; and to appropriate 
what is otherwise vested — even to similar uses, may be a 
boon to selfishness; but if no farther encroachment were 
made on the revenues of the Church, than to apply them 
to the most effectual mode of promoting religious educa- 
tion, — the friends of the establishment would have no 
great cause of alarm. 



112 HINTS ON 

occupy the regards of philanthropy, it is the duty 
of all, in their respective stations, to promote the 
interests of education by every means in their 
power. But while individuals are required to ren- 
der their best services in their peculiar spheres ; 
and while, on their vigilant supervision of ma- 
nageable departments, the success of any general 
system will depend ; the education of the people 
must be deemed the interest of the common- 
wealth, and must be viewed, not as a public good 
only, but as a national necessity. 

The rulers of a country cannot be too frequent- 
ly reminded, that the welfare of the state depends 
on the character of the people, and that the go- 
vernment is responsible for the conduct of its sub- 
jects. The development of moral power, as a 
source of political strength, has been long neglect- 
ed. Its effect is for the most part unheeded ; and 
when it is acknowledged ; it is more as an object of 
religious respect than of visible and practical uti- 
lity. In public discussions, the arguments em- 



HUMAN CONDUCT. 113 

ployed frequently exhibit the utmost sensitiveness, 
in subjects of finance, and a total indifference in 
matters of principle. Their intimate connexion 
is overlooked. The dependence of physical on 
moral influence, in a pecuniary point of view, is 
not even surmised. For the defeat of foreign 
competition, some would permit a sacrifice of hu- 
manity. They do not consider, that outraged 
nature is a violent avenger ; and that disruption 
and disorder are the results of undue compres- 
sion. Men cannot be used like machines, with- 
out a dissolution of morals. Immorality is the 
precursor of anarchy. In a season of groundless 
alarm, or when there is the most remote appre- 
hension of anarchy, the productive powers of the 
country are paralysed. When it actually arrives, 
the arts of civilised life are annihilated. 

The philanthropy of others would spurn the 
idea of purchasing commercial advantage at the 
cost of human life : They would carefully regard 
and humanely provide for physical necessities ; 



114 HINTS ON 

but their social affections would carry them no 
farther. 

The importance of attending to the material, as 
well as to the spiritual part of our nature, has 
been already noticed ; and much might be done, 
both by those in public authority, and by private 
individuals, for invigorating the health, and in- 
creasing the cleanliness and comfort of the peo- 
ple. Public parks and abounding fountains — 
spacious streets and ventilated passages — merry 
games and athletic exercises — spade tillage, and 
the culture of plants and flowers, contribute large- 
ly to the content and happiness of a community. 

Nor is the taste of the people a matter of small 
moment. Noble monuments, majestic statues, 
and grand edifices, have a tendency to elevate 
and refine their ideas. A national gallery and 
museum are worthy of legislative encouragement, 
not only as they are a source of mental pleasure, 
but also, because they serve to connect the inte- 
rests of the rich and the poor, and to soften the 



HUMAN CONDUCT, 115 

asperity which has been engendered, by the spi- 
rit of exclusiveness, to such a degree, that even 
public ornaments, in which all have, as it were, 
a right of property, are sometimes vindictively de- 
faced. 

But no exercise of the body, and no enjoyment 
of the mind, that either blunts the feelings or en- 
dangers morality, is entitled to the least tolerance. 
Prize-fighting brutalizes those who witness, as 
well as those who engage in it, and calls for a full 
measure of penal severity. The abuse of the 
lower animals, though at all times an object for 
moral reprobation, may not always be exposed 
to legal prosecution, without the hazard of inex- 
pedient results. But where the offence is not 
only committed, but patronised, as in the case of 
animals baited in a ring, — a legislature, not con- 
scious of a similarity between the pastimes of its 
members, and those of the populace, would not 
hesitate to interfere. The manliness of the na- 
tional character has sometimes been associated 



116 HINTS ON HUMAN CONDUCT. 

with these brutal diversions. Our candour in 
peace, and our courage in war, have been ascribed 
to bold brows and iron sinews. We underrate 
not the value of muscular vigour. On the con- 
trary, we would sedulously cultivate the means 
by which, it, as well as a greater, may be attain- 
ed. These we believe to be health and virtue ; 
and though from this time forward, the arena 
should be closed, — we should neither be less sure 
of our fellows' sincerity in social intercourse, nor 
feel more anxious for the national standard, in the 
hour of conflict. 



THE END. 



Printed by James Walker, 

Old Bank Close, 

Edinburgh. 



